Abstract
Abstract Deforestation and road construction have inflicted negative effects on wildlife populations. To contribute to the comprehension and preservation of wildlife species, this study aimed to evaluate collared anteater presented to a reference center located in São Paulo state, Brazil. Furthermore, the locations where the animals were most frequently found were determined. Data on collared anteaters (Tamandua tetradactyla) examined at the Center for Medicine and Research in Wild Animals (CEMPAS) were evaluated retrospectively for a period of 13 years. A total of 46 collared anteaters was examined, comprised of 14 males, 10 females, and 22 without identifying information. On average, adult males weigh 4.41 kg while adult females weigh 4.95 kg. The most common admission circumstance was vehicular strikes (36.96%), followed by dog bites (21.74%); 23.91% were considered clinically healthy. Animal outcomes were 36.96% (n=17) reintroduced, 34.78% (n=16) fatalities, 15.22% (n=7) transferred to other institutions, and 6.52% (n=3) escaped from the enclosure; and 6.52% (n=3) presented no medical record information. The collared anteaters were found mainly in the municipal areas of Botucatu (21.73%), São Manuel (17.39%), Lençóis Paulista (6.52%), and Bauru (4.34%), with SP-300 being the main highway associated with the occurrences. In conclusion, the main cause of lesion in the collared anteaters evaluated in this study was vehicular strike that that led to death. However, including all collared anteaters at least half of them had a positive outcome.
Highlights
As to the admission circumstances: 36.96% (n=17) of the collared anteaters had been struck by vehicles; 23.91% (n=11) were considered clinically healthy; 21.74% (n=10) had been bitten by dogs; 4.34% (n=2) had suffered burns; 6.52% (n=3) were hospitalized due to other causes; and for the remaining 6.52% (n=3), there was no information in the medical record (Fig. 1)
Due to their broad distribution, the collared anteaters are ranked as Least Concern on the red list of Threatened Species by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) (Miranda et al 2014)
Except for the collared anteaters that were considered clinically healthy, vehicular strikes and dog bites were the main causes of admission
Summary
Known as the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a mammal that belongs to the Xenarthra magnorder, Mymecophagidae family (Naugher 2004; Hayssen 2011), and is considered an arboreal and terrestrial opportunist (Naugher 2004; Medri et al 2006). The species is found in all types of biomes in Brazil, but in the Pantanal it lives mainly at the edge of the forest (Desbiez & Medri 2010; Miranda 2014). The collared anteater has a head-body length of approximately 47 to 77 cm, body mass from 2 to 7 kg, with a long prehensile tail used as a fifth limb (Nowak 1999; Naugher 2004; Medri et al 2006), and tubular mouth without teeth (Naugher 2004; Haysen 2011). Color variation and morphological differences may occur according to territorial origin; for example, in Brazil, individuals from the northern portion of the country present a darker color than those from the Atlantic Forest (Miranda 2014)
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