Three-banded armadillos welcome a new arrival
Animal news | 12 December 2023
Female armadillo Bu gave birth to her second pup around four weeks ago. At birth, three-banded armadillos are about the size of a table tennis ball. They spend the first few weeks in the protection of the nesting box, where they are suckled by their mother and gain in size and weight relatively quickly.
Dad Gurt is moved out of the nursery during this time, and lives in a temporary unit at the rear. Three-banded armadillos are solitary animals and males do not help rear the young. They might even become a danger to the offspring and injure or kill them.
We can’t yet determine the sex of the little pup, as it curls up into a tight ball to protect itself every time we take a curious peek into the box.