Birth of Anteater Has Zoo Staff Puzzled

An anteater has given birth at a Greenwich, Conn., conservation center, prompting officials there to wonder how the mother conceived.

Officials at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center told the Greenwich Time they had removed the only male anteater from the enclosure in August, when little Alice was born.

They feared that the male, Alf, would kill a baby in the pen.

That left the mother Armani, and the young female, Alice, in the enclosure months before the six-month gestation period for baby Arthur would have begun.

But little Archie was born in April anyway.

Marcella Leone, founder and director of the conservation center, suspects this might be a rare case of delayed implantation, when fertilized eggs remain dormant in the uterus for a period of time.

The center is a special kind of zoo. It's a non-profit refuge for rare, threatened and endangered animals, with a focus on breeding species that are at risk.

Back in April, a rare Rothschild giraffe born at LEO Zoological Conservation Center was named Sandy Hope to honor Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims and their families.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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