The tamandua is a genus of anteaters, often called lesser anteaters because of their small size compared to their relatives, the giant anteater. Tamanduas can be up to 53-88 cm in length, weighing 2.1-7.7 kilograms, while giant anteater species can be up to 180-240 cm long, weighing 27-45 kilograms. The tamandua can be separated into two species: the southern tamandua and the northern tamandua, both living in forests and grasslands while having a diet of ants, termites and other insects.
Tamanduas are mostly active during the night, nesting in the trees when the sun is up. It covers its small eyes and poor vision with its excellent sense of smell and hearing, avoiding predators by using its powerful claws for defence. The tamandua often fends off predators by hanging onto tree branches with its hind legs, allowing its arms and claws to be free to defend itself with. It can also use its tail for leverage as a balance when it needs to stand upright, using it as a tripod. Many of the tamandua’s opps roam the forest, searching for a source of food.
There are several potential predators such as jaguars and other forest cats, but the tamandua has a special trick up its furry sleeve. A smelly scent has deemed the tamandua to be the “stinkers of the forest”, as they have the ability to spray a foul-smelling odour, said to be around four times more powerful than a skunk’s.
“Lil bro think he a crossing guard“
Recently, a TikTok video uploaded by the user @bepiz.man, a user with over 500k followers and a fanbase fueled by funny videos, has gained traction for its comical depiction of the animal that many may not be too familiar with. Over 1.3 million users have viewed the original TikTok upload, with 1.7 million views on Instagram. The video does not provide original information of its origins or where the video was taken, but from looking at the tamandua in the video, we can assume that it is a northern tamandua because of the depicted large black band covering its sides and coarse fur that can be colours of light yellow, tan, brown or grey.
In the video, the tamandua is on a road with vehicles passing by. Upon further viewing of the video, we can notice that the tamandua is swinging its arms around, which can be interpreted as the tamandua defending itself in a situation it deems to be dangerous.
The video itself is lighthearted, and is captioned with the text “Lil bro think he a crossing guard”, suggesting that the tamandua’s stance shares similarities to the stance of a crossing guard and that the tamandua looks as if it is conducting traffic. However, it has also garnered a fair share of concern for not only the tamandua, but the person recording the video:
“Bro needs to get out the road, ik he feels threatened but I think the cars got him outmatched”
“Get bro off the road”
“Until you walk close to it and get your intestines removed swiftly”
“That’s what they do before attacking (found out the hard way)”
Netizens and internet users seem to be familiar with the tamandua’s potential lethality towards humans and the ability that the northern tamandua has to easily claw through anything that it sees as a threat.
Controversy
This video poses the question of whether or not we, as humans, can coexist with animals in areas where we have urbanised the natural environment. The comments shared on the video pose a discussion of what animals, in this case the tamandua, are capable of doing and the harm that they may cause to individuals who may not be very well-versed with their behaviours and what to do in the situation where they encounter wildlife. To prevent any harm from happening to both humans and wildlife, people must be educated and must know what to do and what to avoid when in the given situation.
Bibliography
Tamandua or Lesser Anteater | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants. (2023). Sandiegozoo.org. https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tamandua-or-lesser-anteater
to, C. (2006, August 7). genus of mammals. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamandua
bepis on Instagram: “HALT!” (2020). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cpqt8fwpewd/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
