Hattiesburg Zoo proudly announced the arrival of their newest resident, a Screaming Hairy Armadillo named Birkenstock. He is a year and a half old and will serve as a zoo ambassador, travelling with the education staff to schools, churches, libraries and media appearances to educate about the often-misunderstood creature. Birkenstock can be seen at the zoo’s Asbury Discovery Center where he will reside with one of the zoo’s sloths and two Von Der Decken’s Hornbills.
Compared to the 14-pound Nine-Banded Armadillo Mississippians are accustomed to seeing in the wild, the Screaming Hairy Armadillo typically weighs in at under two pounds, on average. They are the smallest member of the hairy armadillo family. When threatened, this species of armadillo emits a high-pitched squeal, which earned the species its name.
Native to western Bolivia and northwestern Argentina in the Monte Desert of South America, these armadillos are adapted for life in desert environments. In their natural habitat, they dig burrows deep into the sand to avoid the heat and are nocturnal during the summer months. During the winter months, they become more diurnal and begin to emerge from their burrows in the afternoons. In human care, these armadillos can live up to eight or nine years.
These amazing creatures are omnivores, eating plants for most of their water consumption as well as insects, worms and small vertebrates like frogs, lizards, snakes and birds. In the wild, these armadillos are regularly observed burrowing under the carcass of a fallen animal to wait for the insects drawn to it.
