A life-changing encounter with the secretive creature led Arnaud Desbiez to dedicate his work to saving it from extinction.
Arnaud Desbiez, a French-born conservationist, lived in the Brazilian Pantanal for years before a chance encounter changed his life – and he wasn’t even there for it. His wife, tapir conservationist Patrícia Medici, came upon a giant armadillo one night in 2009 while working in the field. Hearing the story lit a fire in Desbiez.
“This was my dream species, the holy grail of all mammals,” he says. “I said, ‘You know what? If I could just see it.’”
Weighing up to 50kg and growing up to 1.5 metres in length, the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) is bigger than most large dogs, with a 15cm sickle claw used to plunder rock-hard termite mounds. Yet it was one of the least understood – and least recorded – animals. With a very low demographic density and shy night-time behaviour, the giant armadillo was mostly a ghost of South America – until Desbiez set to work.
https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...eb/21/arnaud-desbiez-save-giant-armadillo-aoe
Arnaud Desbiez, a French-born conservationist, lived in the Brazilian Pantanal for years before a chance encounter changed his life – and he wasn’t even there for it. His wife, tapir conservationist Patrícia Medici, came upon a giant armadillo one night in 2009 while working in the field. Hearing the story lit a fire in Desbiez.
“This was my dream species, the holy grail of all mammals,” he says. “I said, ‘You know what? If I could just see it.’”
Weighing up to 50kg and growing up to 1.5 metres in length, the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) is bigger than most large dogs, with a 15cm sickle claw used to plunder rock-hard termite mounds. Yet it was one of the least understood – and least recorded – animals. With a very low demographic density and shy night-time behaviour, the giant armadillo was mostly a ghost of South America – until Desbiez set to work.
https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...eb/21/arnaud-desbiez-save-giant-armadillo-aoe