Gone by mid-century, 200 anteaters now roam the wetlands

Argentina now has around 200 wild giant anteaters living in the Iberá Wetlands, up from zero when a reintroduction effort began there in 2007. La Fundación Rewilding Argentina launched the project in Corrientes province, where the species, known locally as yurumí, had vanished by the mid-20th century after decades of poaching and habitat loss. Over the operational stage, 110 anteaters were rescued or rehabilitated and released, many of them orphans or animals that had wandered too close to town. What happened next was the whole point. The released animals had young, those young had young, and the population is now several generations of wild-born anteaters that never needed rescuing in the first place. The foundation said the methodology now serves as a template for returning key species to other ecosystems. It was the world's first attempt to bring the giant anteater back to a landscape it had disappeared from. Nineteen years on, the count keeps rising.