Sacramento Zoo is expecting: Amber the anteater is pregnant   

By Bill Lindelof -Sacramento Bee

There’s reason to celebrate at the Sacramento Zoo: Amber the anteater is pregnant.

The zoo confirmed the pregnancy of its giant anteater with an ultrasound, the baby anteater’s snout already prominent in the image.

In good health, Amber is expected to deliver in April the first giant anteater baby ever born at the zoo. Breeding behavior was observed in May, September and October.

After a 180-day gestation period, a mother anteater usually gives birth standing up to one offspring. Male anteaters don’t help with raising the young, leaving that to the mother who carries the baby on her back for up to a year.

A mature anteater can weigh as much as 140 pounds and stretch 7 feet from snout to tail tip. The zoo started exhibiting anteaters in 2004 and Amber arrived in March 2009.

Giant anteaters are native to Central and South America.

Sacramento Zoo This ultrasound photograph shows the pregnancy of Amber the anteater, due in April at the Sacramento Zoo.

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