Baby Boom of Giant Anteaters Welcomed at Nashville Zoo

Tennessee residents have flocked to the Nashville Zoo thanks to a baby boom of giant anteaters.

In fact, the zoo notes that four giant anteater pups have been born in just the last 10 months. The youngest at barely a month old is still living with his mother in an off-site exhibit near a giant anteater barn.

These edentate animals have no teeth with very long tongues that help provide sufficient nutrition through their ability to lap up nearly 35,000 ants and/or termites each day alone.

Their sharp claws can also help them tear open an anthill and allow their long snouts and tongues to enter for more food, with their tongue flicking up insects at close to 160 times per minute, according to National Geographic. Though ants may fight back with painful stings, anteaters are very quick and may only spent as little as one minute finishing up their meal in an anthill.

Anteaters are typically found in Central and South America, where they prefer tropical forests and grasslands. Yet the Nashville Zoo has the largest collection in North America, with a population of 15, according to Rick Schwartz, the zoo's president.

"There are not many of the species within the zoo community," said zoo spokesman Jim Bartoo. However, as the species is suffering from habitat loss and hunting, they are considered a vulnerable population.

The zoo notes that none of the anteaters are currently on display yet, but they hope that will change soon.