Argentina brings back the giant Anteater

Argentina: Almost 20 years ago, Argentina launched what was then the world’s first attempt to reintroduce the giant anteater to a landscape where it had vanished. Today, that gamble has paid off.

The local population in Corrientes province has grown from 0 to around 200 individuals.

La Fundación Rewilding Argentina began the project in 2007 in the Iberá Wetlands. The species, locally known as yurumí, had disappeared from Corrientes in the mid-20th century due to poaching, fires, and habitat degradation.

Over the course of the program, 110 giant anteaters were rescued or rehabilitated for release. Many had been orphaned or found wandering too close to towns and farms. Those 110 animals didn’t just survive. They bred. The releases led to steady population growth and multiple generations of wild-born, wild-raised anteaters now adapted to the wetlands.

The Fundación said the reintroduction has been “nothing if not successful.” It added that the methodology developed in Iberá is now being used as a model to bring back other key predators and herbivores in different ecosystems across Argentina.