Getting antsy: Providence zoo hosts giant animal

If only humans could appreciate how tiring it is to eat all those ants and termites -- to maneuver a 2-foot tongue in and out of massive insect hives for sustenance.

On Saturday, Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence unveiled its giant anteater exhibit, which stars Johei, a 1-year-old anteater who weighs almost 100 pounds and is 7 feet long.

An interactive game for children that simulates how an anteater forages has been incorporated into the exhibit.

Johei may lope around his exhibit slowly (anteaters aren't the most active mammals), but with his enormous snout and tongue, he will show visitors -- by exploring his environment -- how he would go about getting the 35,000 insects per day these South American mammals can devour.

While he mostly eats a diet provided by the zoo, the exhibit is still set up with enough insects to lure this highly sensitive snout to its delicacies, said Tim French, deputy director for animal programs at the zoo.

"We'll provide some of that with actual decaying logs and we'll try to have some sort of artificial feeding devices so he'll be able to explore, for the kids to see him and for the anteater to exercise his behavior," French said. "He has a great sense of smell, but not sight."

It will be enough to make Johei "antsy."

"There will be native North American insects that live in the exhibit, and he will sniff those out and dig them up. He'll tear apart logs and dig at the roots of plants, and he'll probably make a mess of the exhibit," French said.

One of the interactive features of the exhibit is a child-sized "termite mound" that children can burrow into and watch through a pane of glass the anteater in action.

There will also be an "anteater cantina" where youths can play a game designed and built by the zoo. French describes it as a sort of "etch-a-sketch" with gears to control a long tongue that needs to be maneuvered into an ant mound to gather the insects.

"Hopefully the kids will play the game and then will see the anteater probing along, flicking its tongue, and hopefully they will understand that it isn't a simple matter, it's a lot of work for them to go out there and keep themselves fed," French said.

For more information, visit www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org.

Reach Sharma Howard at 425-4235 or showard@norwichbulletin.com.