Unexpected Giant Anteater Birth Reported at LEO Zoological Conservation Center
Posted on May 27, 2013
Greenwich Time reports that there was a surprise giant anteater birth at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich, CT. Armani, a female giant anteater, gave birth to a baby last August. The baby's father, Alf, was separated from Armani for several months to prevent infanticide. Staff at LEO were then very surprised to find that Armani had given birth to a new baby last month despite the separation of Armani and Alf.
The gestation period for giant anteaters is a minimum of six months, which means there was not enough time for Alf to have gotten Armani pregnant again and for her to have had the child. The article says ideas of immaculate conception and Alf sneaking into Armani's pen were passed around at the center.
Marcella Leone, the founder and director of the LEO center, believes the answer to the mystery may be a rare case of delayed implantation (or embryonic diapause). This has been observed in sloths and armadillos. Some experts dispute this theory - arguing that the uterus would have been cleared out when Armani gave birth last year - so the mystery remains unsolved.