When I first began thinking about enrichment ideas for anteaters I drew a blank. All that I knew about anteaters was that they ate ants. I had to do research.

After looking around online at different anteater websites I became more familiar with the creatures. I learned that they enjoy swimming, walk on their knuckles, can eat 30,000 insects a day, and more!

I started to sketch ideas to help enrich the anteater exhibit. The guiding thought in my sketches was the fact that these ideas had to LOOK NATURAL and MIMIC THE EXISTING HABITAT. The zoo wants these additions to blend in and look like the anteaters are simply enjoying a natural environment.

My first idea is of a man-made anthill.

I learned in my research that anteaters like to rip the top off of anthills and use their tongue to access the ants inside. I couldn’t think of a way to allow the top of the anthill to be ripped of repeatably so I thought that a series of tubes inserted into the sides of the hill would challenge the anteater to use its long tongue and eat the ants. These tubes would also allow the zookeepers to replace the tubes with new food often.

This is my complete solution model of the anthill made from play-doh molded on top of a piece of foam. The “tubes” are dowels.

The complicated part of this idea is the tubes themselves. In order to challenge the anteater more, and to lessen insect escape, I have installed “baffles” inside the tubes as shown in my component model above. These baffles lengthen the travel time for insects who wander out and make sure enough are left for eating.

My second idea is a hammock for the anteaters to sleep in.

The hammock would be low enough for the anteater to climb into from the ground or a rock. If placed near the front of the exhibit this could be a way for zoo-goers to see the animal even when it is sleeping since usually animals go and hide when they want to sleep.

The first picture above is the complete solution for my hammock idea. Here you can see the hammock attached to low tree branches. Anteaters can’t climb trees so the hammock must be low enough for them to reach from the ground. The second photo is the component idea with a more detailed look at the hammock. I made the hammock out of woven twine for a more natural look. In the zoo they may want to fabricate it out of a dark colored nylon webbing for increased durability while still blending into the surroundings.

My third idea was to have a food/play item for the anteater that would hang from a tree.

This ball would have a similar setup to the anthill with multiple removable tubes to hold insects.

With this setup, the anteater would have to work harder to get its food.

This is the complete solution for my tree hanging toy. The pipe cleaner represents a natural vine that could be used to disguise the ball and make the entire toy look natural in the surrounding area. 

The image above shows the component idea of the tree toy in greater detail. Here you can see the replaceable “food tubes” that have the same baffle filled interior as shown in the above component for the anthill.

My fourth idea was to build a water feature for the anteater to enjoy. In my research I found that anteaters love water. I thought that this would be a perfect idea for hot humid Houston and would be enjoyable to watch. Originally, as shown in the below sketch, I had just planned for a waterfall and small pond. However, after asking Joey for help developing the idea we thought that a small water slide would be even more fun for the anteater!

The image above shows the complete solution for the waterfall/slide idea. This would be easy to incorporate and camouflage into the existing landscape of the exhibit. The waterfall ideally would be the water slide so as to seem as natural as possible.

This image is the more detailed component idea showing the waterslide. Here it is clear that the slide is angled to be more comfortable for the anteater. There is also a ramp up to the top of the slide. It may be hard to see from this photo but I originally thought that there should be steps leading up to the slide. However, I quickly realized my mistake and refocused myself on designing for anteaters and NOT humans. A ramp is a more natural option. I would also think that integrating the water feature into a hill would be an even better option but that would likely increase the cost of this project even more.

My fifth and final idea was to make a treadmill for the anteater to exercise on. The sketch below shows how the treadmill would be integrated into the ground and perhaps have a food reward at the end such as the anthill.

The above image shows my complete solution for the treadmill idea. The treadmill is shown in green and would be inset into the ground. In front of the treadmill is a food reward for the exercise. This is shown here as a tree stump that could be propagated like the anthill with refillable tubes.

This is the component idea for the treadmill showing the basic construction in more detail. The wheels of the device are cylinders with tension coming from a popsicle stick. I think that the treadmill is important despite the price because I have been to the Houston Zoo and seen the anteater exhibit. They do not have much room to walk around and from my research I found that anteaters can be nomadic in a way. They are solitary and like to wander to find the best food.

Ideally, this would not be a normal treadmill. My idea is to have a touch sensitive device that knows when the anteater has stepped on it. The treadmill will then fire up a preprogrammed exercise routine which could be a slow speed ramp up to the anteater’s “gallop” and then a wind-down before stopping and allowing the animal to reach to food reward.

 

Overall, it was enjoyable to dream up ideas for an anteater’s enclosure. I am all for making the monotony of zoo life more interesting for the animals. So many of them look like they would rather be anywhere else (especially with the Houston heat).

I think that my most natural and viable idea is the anthill with refillable food tubes. This would be a sure hit for the anteater as it would challenge them to use their long tongues as they do in the wild to reach tasty insects. It would also blend in well with the surroundings and could be made relatively cheaply while still maintaining durability. Also, it would not require much work from the zoo keeper to maintain other than setting out new tubes.

My favorite idea is the swimming hole with the waterfall/slide. I think that this would be the biggest hit for the hot Houston weather and could be located close to the audience for maximum attraction. However, I know that anytime water gets involved in a project, cost goes WAY up (swimming pools are ungodly expensive).

The only real failures that I had when working on this project were motive based. I had to keep reminding myself that my designs had to be NATURAL, CHEAP, DURABLE, and MAINTAINABLE. Therefore, there were a few scrapped ideas when I veered off track. I also had trouble weaving the hammock for the component idea as shown in the photo below.

This photo depicts the solution for my weaving issue. I knew that I needed to weave the hammock, but without a loom it was a difficult thing to do. I made a small loom out of duct tape and used a cut off straw as a “needle” to help guide the twine through the weaves.