Firefighters warm to Sauna the anteater

Sauna: A question mark over pregnancy

Firefighters have helped in an attempt to see if one of London Zoo's rare, giant anteaters is pregnant.

They used a thermal-imaging camera - designed to find people in smoke-filled rooms - to see if three-year-old Sauna's abdomen was hot enough to mark the presence of a possible new arrival.

A vet at the zoo, Tai Strike, said: "There's an area that looks like it is hotter but with her dense hair it is hard to tell.

"When we lifted up her tail where she has a lump we found she was hotter compared with the male. We will have to wait and see but the signs are quite positive."

Sauna and her mate Benito are the only giant anteaters in the UK.

Breakthrough

The birth of a baby giant anteater would be a breakthrough for the zoo, as the species is listed as vulnerable by conservation groups.

The pair were matched a year ago as part of a European breeding programme.

Benito, also aged three, came from Dortmund Zoo, Germany, 18 months ago and Sauna joined him from Santa Barbara, California, six months later.

Tai Strike: "Signs are quite positive"

Firemen from Paddington fire station assisted zoo staff in using the camera to detect heat readings in the area of Sauna's uterus.

The technique was chosen as it would not disturb the normally docile animal.

It can use its large claws, designed to rip up hard earth, to defend itself if it feels threatened.

Stud book

Paul Pearce-Kelly, a curator at the zoo, said the anteaters were managed "to ensure maximum genetic vigour".

He said: "Mates are carefully selected from a stud book similar to the ones used when breeding race horses.

"Giant anteaters are a rare species and the prospect of Sauna being pregnant is quite an important breakthrough.

It is not a foolproof test and has never been tried on giant anteaters before

Paul Pearce-Kelly, London Zoo

"It is not always easy to detect pregnancies in animals and the thermal-image device is a new diagnostic tool for such investigations.

"It is not a foolproof test and has never been tried on giant anteaters before.

"Giant anteaters have a lower body temperature than most mammals and this, coupled with their size, makes diagnosis difficult."

Staff hope for a birth in mid-August.

Tongue

The mammals normally give birth to just one baby which is suckled for six months and carried around on its mother's back for up to a year.

They are native to South America, where they eat grubs as well as ants and can grow to just over a metre (4ft) in length.

They also have a metre-long tail and a very long tongue that can be extended up to 150 times a minute.

Thermal-imaging has been used as a pregnancy test for rhinos but this is a first for London Zoo.