New Trip Report – Brazil
A great new report from Stefan Lithner, 12 days & 26 species including White-lipped Peccary, 6 and 7 Banded Armadillos, Jaguar and Silky Anteater.
I am pretty sure this is the first time I have heard of anyone seeing a Silky Anteater outside of Manuel Antonio Park in Costa Rica
Jon
10 Comments
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vdinets
In Caroni Swamp in Trinidad, they are seen on ~50% of boat tours. I saw one there at first try in 2007.
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tomeslice
Nice report! I liked the pictures of the giant anteater and the jaguar!
One thing that I have to point out is that I think Stefan got a little confused on the ID of the anteater he saw. The animal you saw and photographed wasn’t a silky anteater, but rather a Southern Tamandua. There are no silky anteaters in the pantanal as far as I know (and according to IUNC and wikipedia). I also saw a roadkill Tamandua first thing as we entered the transpantaneira, but unfortunately never saw a live one. Tamandua is also a very cool animal that shouldn’t be taken for granted, but a silky anteater is about one tenth (1/10) the size of the animal you saw, and is only active at night.
Other silky anteater sightings outside Manuel Antonio:
I have seen pictures of 1 sighting on the grounds of the Manu Wildlife Centre, just outside the lodge, but that is a rare, rare event. Alan Dahl has seen one at least once on the grounds of Bosque Del Cabo rainforest resort on the tip of the Osa Peninsula, and I’ve heard of rare sightings from Corcovado. Also, Jeff Corwin has filmed them in the mangroves of Belize before, and mentioned that he has seen them there a few times before. That’s all I know of…-
Jon Hall
Thanks Tomer. I hadn’t looked at the photo properly and it does indeed look like a Tamandua to me. I will check with Stefan. Good to hear of more Silky Anteater sightings. My impression is that they are no uncommon, just bloody hard to spot!
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Jon Hall
Thanks guys… Stefan confirms it was a Tamandua and the report was mislabelled. A revised version will be uploaded soon. Meanwhile good to know Panama and Trinidad and other bits of CR are sites too for them, even if the Pantanal is not
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Alan
First off, what an awesome trip Stefan had. Thanks so much for posting it! I eat up these Pantanal trip reports because it is my dream trip and we plan to take it in a couple of years. His detailed report plus photos isreally great.
Secondly, everyone already figured out that it was a Southern Tamandua that was photographed which is an awesome spot anyway. We have seen the Northern variety and it is a personal favorite. We love it’s body “tuxedo”. Is there a noticeable difference between these species? Quick research says not really…
Finally, yes I did see a Silky Anteater on the Zappatero Trail at BDC in Costa Rica. It was our first trip there and before I really got into Mammals. I wish I knew the importance of what I was seeing. It was the middle of the day and it was curled up in a ball sleeping about 15 feet off the ground. I make it a point NOT to interact with the animals I see but I would make an exception now and try to wake the little guy up to get a better photo. Here is the one I took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atdahl/392994655/.
We only found it because of another guest at the lodge. At lunch they said they found a “sloth” on the trail and marked the place for others to find. At the time we had never seen a sloth and really wanted to see one so we went looking in the heat of the day (the trail is particular warm). Obviously, this other guest didn’t know the difference between a sloth and a Silky Anteater but we owe them a debt of gratitude none the less. I REALLY want to see one again.
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tomeslice
That’s pretty funny that another guest confused that for a sloth.. but it probably made it into a cool little surprise!
I think you’ll have to search very very hard to find another one there, as Jon said they’re not uncommon, but since they’re so small, and don’t move around during the day they are super difficult to find, other than in mangrove areas where they often sleep not that far off the ground. -
charleswhood
I have second-hand but reliable reports of silky anteater at La Selva Costa Rica and mangroves in Trinidad, though others visiting the sites later (6+ months) did not have them. When researching a new area, I’ll mention the UK-based bird tour company, Birdquest. They are the hardest of the hard core birding companies, and their trip reports are extensive and reliable. If you’re thinking about a new area, do look at their past reports, via their website. Mammals (common and binomial names) will always be at the end of the bird lists, which themselves are at the end of the narrative reports. Be warned that some of their tours accumulate bird lists in the 800 range. Whatever they post, you can trust. For the Patanal, I did a 2010 trip via WildWings (also UK) and by my count, we had a mammal trip list of 45 spp, including 9 tapirs, 4 jaguars, 1 ocelot, and a puma with yearling cub. / Charles Hood
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White1985
A guy we met during our trip in Costa Rica had seen a silky anteater in Corcovado. He was working there to maintain the trails and one day he came across one. Biologist Don Filipiak also reported seeing one during field work on the grounds of Rara-Avis ecolodge. I suppose if you spend a lot of time in the field, chances of running into a sikly anteater increase…
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heavenlyjane
I saw a silky antester at Barrow Colorado Island reserve in Panama in the early 1980s.