Darlan the baby giant anteater finds his way back home

Giant anteater Darlan makes it back to his Amazonian rainforest home

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Darlan the baby giant anteater who lost his family to the manmade Brazil fires has been re-released into his Amazonian home. This happened thanks to your support.

Image credit: Instituto Tamandua

The manmade Brazil fires in 2022 caused Darlan, a sweet baby giant anteater, to become orphaned. But thanks to our partners at Tamandua Institute, he was rescued, rehabilitated and released into his Amazonian rainforest home early last year.

As part of his release, you stepped in to supply a special radio collar that would ensure his safety by allowing our partners on the ground to monitor his movements and make sure he didn’t get into any trouble.

Thanks to you, our partners were able to detect some issues with his health and well-being in time and brought him back to the institute to help him recover.

Watch the baby giant anteater’s first steps back to freedom:

After a little more rehabilitation and health checks, Darlan has made a full recovery and has finally made it back to his wild home. Thank you for helping make sure he’s okay.

 

Darlan’s story

Darlan was only 20 days old when he was rescued from a dirt road in June 2021. It is assumed that he tried to escape the fires with his mother, and either got separated from her or lost her to the flames.

Without intervention, his chances of survival in the wild would be extremely low. But thanks to you, he made it to the rehabilitation centre where he was protected, helped to grow bigger and stronger, and taught all the skills he needed to thrive in the wild.

Anteater released into wild
Credit: World Animal Protection / Noelly Castro

Your support makes a difference

Your support is playing a vital role in helping us work with local organisations in Brazil to rehabilitate injured animals and return them to the wild when they’re ready. It also aids our partners’ efforts in firefighting, such as the creation of 'fire pits' which are open lines in the forest that prevent fires from spreading further and act as escape routes for animals.

Thanks for helping Darlan the baby giant anteater find his way back to freedom.

 

Staff at anteater rehabilitation centre
Credit: World Animal Protection / Noelly Castro
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