Meet a rare little creature called the Chacoan fairy armadillo:
Things to know:
- The Chacoan fairy armadillo is an extremely rare mammal, although its exact numbers are not known.
- It is very small: about 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) long.
- It is sometimes called a pink fairy armadillo. Why do you think that is?
- It lives in South America, in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
- It is nocturnal, meaning it is most active at night.
- It digs burrows in the sand. Do you see what body feature it uses to dig so well?
- It eats ants and other insects.
Some photos:
Bolivian farmer Milton López Viruez spotted this greater fairy armadillo, also known as Burmeister’s armadillo or the Chacoan fairy armadillo, on his ranch and contacted the biologists. Photo courtesy of Ivan Gutierrez Lemaitre.
“Its claws: huge, strong and very well-developed, its front legs extremely large, muscular and strong,” Huáscar Bustillos Cayoja told Mongabay of the observed Chacoan fairy armadillo. Photo courtesy of Ivan Gutierrez Lemaitre.
Cliff, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Read about an exciting sighting of a pink fairy armadillo in Bolivia on Mongabay.com:
(Reading level: Grade 5+)