Rare Albino Anteater Spotted in Brazil

A very uncommon-looking anteater has been snapped roaming around Brazil by researchers checking in on the unusually pale creature.

Alvinho the albino anteater, possibly the world's only known albino of his species, was first discovered in December 2022 by Brazil's Projeto Bandeiras e Rodovias, or Anteaters and Highways Project. The researchers regularly check in on the critter, also referred to as Alvin, and track his location using a GPS collar.

"Fresh news from our Alvinho!!" Anteaters and Highways Project wrote in the caption of a post sharing pictures of the animal. "Our little fellow is doing good!"

"Our vet team regularly visits the area where he lives, in the Cerrado of Mato Grosso do Sul. These visits allow us to check if he is healthy and also to adjust his GPS collar (he received his second collar a few months ago), in order to monitor his development while keeping him comfortable, without changing his routine!" Anteaters and Highways Project wrote in the May 10 post.

Alvinho is now around 1 year old, and weighs around 30 pounds, according to Anteaters and Highways Project. Alvinho is especially rare due to his albinism, caused by a genetic condition that means the animal doesn't produce any melanin pigments. Melanin gives color to skin, hair and eyes in mammals, as well as scales and feathers in other animals.

Giant anteaters are large mammals native to Central and South America. The animals can grow to between 6 and 8 feet long, and weigh between 60 and 100 pounds, according to the Smithsonian Museum. As per their name, the mammals eat ants and termites, using their long tongue to probe inside the insects' nests for prey. These tongues can grow up to 2 feet long alone. They are capable of flicking in and out of the anteater's mouth at 150 times per minute, using its sticky saliva to pick up the insects after they rip apart the nests with their powerful claws.

Anteaters are classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List due to their declining populations. In some areas, these animals are hunted for food, or for use of their skin in leather products or medicine. Anteaters are often hit by cars: between 2017 and 2020, the Anteaters and Highways Project found 761 dead giant anteaters on the roads of Mato Grosso do Sul in central-west Brazil.

The Anteaters and Highways Project is a multi-year assessment of anteater-vehicle collisions set up by Brazil's Wild Animal Conservation Institute (ICAS). They track anteaters to learn more about the population structure and to protect the species.

Alvinho was recently fitted with his second GPS vest, having outgrown the first one.

"The GPS collar used for monitoring is fundamental for understanding the behavioral aspects of the species, and are developed in a personalized way, to adapt to each body," Anteaters and Highways Project said in the Facebook post. "We have been monitoring animals using this technology for more than 10 years now! Biologist @alebertassoni developed a research with the objective of evaluating and comparing the behavior of the animal with and without the monitoring vest, and it was found that its use does not interfere with the behavior of the species."

Without pigmentation, the skin and fur appear white like Alvinho, and blood vessels can often be visible, resulting in a pink or red hue in areas like the eyes. Albinism is rare, occurring in between 1 in 20,000 and 1 in 1 million animals, according to Purdue University.

Albino animals are often at more risk than their normal-colored neighbors, as they tend to stand out from their environment much more.

The Anteaters and Highways Project found another albino giant anteater sadly dead in August 2021, who was the first albino of the species ever to have been found.

"When we got there, he was already dead, but we were able to collect genetic samples that were sent to the lab for analysis," Débora Yogui, a veterinarian with the Anteaters and Highways Project team, said in a statement posted to Facebook.

Alvinho's DNA will be compared with that of the dead albino to determine if the two are genetically related, Yogui said, as Alvinho appeared in the same region.

"A year later, a female appeared in the same area with a small albino cub, 'Alvin', on her back," Yogui added.

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