Taipei Zoo urgently searching for escaped 11-yo southern tamandua
Taipei Zoo urgently searching for escaped 11-yo southern tamandua
2026-05-21
An 11-year-old anteater named Blackie has gone missing from Taipei Zoo, which is calling on the public to help locating the animal. On Monday evening, the female tamandua escaped by climbing up a banana shrub and disappearing into the darkness. It’s been three days, but she’s still nowhere to be found, which has sparked a frantic search in the area. Zoo officials are urging the public to keep an eye out for the runaway anteater and hope that she finds her way home safely soon.
A southern tamandua, also known as the lesser anteater, looks up the tree trunk before climbing up. Her name is Blackie, and visitors love her. She’s been missing from the Taipei Zoo for a couple of days now.
Tsao Hsien-shao
Taipei Zoo spokesperson
Blackie had climbed up the hardy banana shrub. When the banana leaf tilted from her weight, she had the opportunity to latch onto the imitation boulder structure, and from there on escaped.
Surveillance footage from 6:55 p.m. on May 18 shows Blackie lurking in the bromeliad plant area, right by the visitors’ walkway, only to disappear in a flash. The zoo reckoned that she’d made her way out by climbing up a banana shrub.
Wu Li-hsin
Taipei Zoo researcher
Considering her age and the fact that she’s not been out for a long time yet, we’re narrowing our search zone by a little bit. It’s been three days now, which works out to about 6km to 9km away from the zoo.
The southern tamandua is a solitary, tree-dwelling mammal native to South America. It has a sticky tongue several dozens of centimeters long, sharp claws on the front limbs and a hairless prehensile tail. Its diet is composed of ants, termites and other insects.
Tsao Hsien-shao
Taipei Zoo spokesperson
A little more than five years ago, Little Red had also escaped when the weather was good, like now. She was happy in the beginning, but a cold snap a little later on was a little hard on her, and she was discovered by a hiker. Of course, we took her back in at the soonest possible moment. The southern tamandua is nocturnal, so we have automated cameras installed around the area, and we’re checking every day for any traces of Blackie.
In 2020, another female southern tamandua named Little Red was only found three months after escaping. Blackie, the protagonist this time is a lovely granny aged 11. She’s about 50cm to 60 cm long, and sensitive and timid in nature. On the third day of her escape, the zoo hopes that people will keep an eye out for her, but urges anyone who spots her not to try to capture her. Instead, they should notify the zoo immediately.
For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53
#animals #taipeizoo #tropical #anteater #cuteanimals
協尋! 北市動物園小食蟻獸逃家 園方公告"尋獸啟事"
2026-05-21
台北市立動物園驚傳動物出逃，11歲的小食蟻獸"黑妞"，週一晚間竟然透過香蕉樹斷枝的天梯，偷跑出去，沒想到，事發第三天，還是沒有找回來，園方現在也發出"尋獸啟事"，希望大家一起來找尋"黑妞"下落！
在樹幹上爬上爬下，台北市立動物園的小食蟻獸「黑妞」活動力旺盛，可愛模樣，深受許多大小朋友喜愛，不過如今卻傳出離家出走。
[[台北市立動物園發言人 曹先紹]]
“黑妞是因為爬上芭蕉葉，芭蕉葉歪掉了以後，牠剛好有機會勾到旁邊仿岩的結構，所以牠就順勢出去。”
監視器也拍下18號晚間6點55分，黑妞現蹤鳳梨科植物園區的遊客步道，隨後便失去蹤跡，研判黑妞是爬上活動場的折斷香蕉樹，當作天梯順利逃脫!。
[[台北市立動物園動物組組長 吳立信]]
“考量牠的年紀，以及牠其實沒有在外面這麼長時間的探索，我們會稍微把這個範圍限縮一些些，那可能在動物園周圍就是目前第三天，那如果以換算來講是六到九公里。”
其實小食蟻獸，是南美洲的獨居樹棲性哺乳動物，擁有長達數十公分的黏長舌頭、前足具強壯利爪，以及一條無毛的捲曲尾巴，主要捕食螞蟻、白蟻與昆蟲為生。事實上，台北市立動物園的小食蟻獸出逃已經不是第一次。
[[台北市立動物園發言人 曹先紹]]
“五年多前小紅就是因為這種天氣出去，然後生活得很快樂，後來是寒流來臨的時候，牠沒有辦法HOLD住，所以就被登山客發現，那我們當然在最短的時間之內，
就把牠帶回來。因為牠是夜行性的，所以我們在現場的附近，我們會架設自動照相機，每天會去檢查，有沒有發現任何蛛絲馬跡。”
2020年，小食蟻獸"小紅"，一離家就是三個月，而這次離家出走的"黑妞"今年11歲，是雌性小食蟻獸，體長約50到60公分個性敏感、膽小，如今「黑妞」失蹤第三天，園方也發出尋獸啟事，呼籲民眾看到，立即通報，千萬別自行捕捉。
更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00
Related News
