Southern three-banded armadillos at Edinburgh Zoo
We have two three-banded armadillos at Edinburgh Zoo. The male is named Dillon, and he was born in November 2002. Dillon was hand-reared and really likes to be around people. Because of this we use him out in the Zoo for animal encounters, which gives him the chance to run around and meet lots of new people. Dillon especially likes shoes, and will often follow the keepers’ feet. Dillon sometimes stars in our hilltop Animal Antics shows. Show-biz is in Dillon’s blood: his dad starred in one of the Harry Potter films!
Doris, our second armadillo, was born in 2006 and recently came to live here at Edinburgh Zoo. We are hoping that Doris and Dillon will breed. We are very excited at the prospect of having baby armadillos at the Zoo!
Dillon and Doris’ diet at the Zoo includes fruit, carrot and lots of insects. This species is the only species of armadillo that can curl completely into a ball, and Dillon and Doris will do this when they are sleeping to protect themselves and also to help to keep them warm.
Where they can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
Our Southern three-banded armadillos are not in an exhibit at the Zoo, but they are sometimes used in our animal presentations such as our Animal Antics show. If you are lucky, you may see them up close, out and about in the Zoo accompanied by one of our presenters.
Southern three-banded armadillos in the wild
The Southern three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus) is found in eastern Bolivia, south-western Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. It is found mostly in areas of dry vegetation.
Three-banded armadillos eat lots of insects in the wild. They have long claws on their front feet for digging into termite mounds and ant hills. They can smell food up to 20cm underground and they use their very long and sticky tongue to catch the ants and termites.
Each armadillo has a unique head-plate just like the human fingerprint, so no two armadillo head plate markings are the same.
Three-banded armadillos will swim in the wild. The shell is not attached to the sides of the body, meaning the armadillos can fill them with air to make them light and buoyant so that they can float across the top of the water using their front legs to paddle across. Alternatively, they can fill the side gaps with water to make themselves heavy so that they sink to the bottom of the water. They are then able to hold their breath for up to 6 minutes which allows them to then walk across the bottom of the river they are trying to cross.
Southern three-banded armadillos are listed as Near Threatened, with populations reported as being in significant decline. This is mostly due to habitat loss and because the armadillo is hunted for food.
IUCN Red List category: Near Threatened