A Salta tracker and hunting guide was killed yesterday after his dogs bayed and ant bear thebear charged him and destroyed his femoral artery ,and mauled several dogs .Ant bear hunting is strictly forbidden so we dont know if he was poaching or just a casual encounter .

Marcos Echegoyen, apparently of 36 years old, killed by a "yurumi" as this type of ant bear (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is known in northern Argentina...

Strange enough it seems he was hunting (ant bears?) with two others friends and a third one was the one that gave the alert to the authorities after receiving a phone call... sadly when he was found it was too late...

Was it a year ago that an ant bear killed a zoo vet in a suburb of BUE ? Those claws can be really harmful ....

Just to imagine a Yurumi attacking...

How sad, any one know if he had family?
Those critters look like an alien life forms.
If I remember correctly, these critters don't move real fast, sort of like a slouth?

Jim

Sloth ? NO it's an ant eater.Those claws dig out ants from the ground or termite mounds .They can get aggressive.

Sorry to hear that!
Never thought an ant eater could kill a man.

Why do people hunt then? Are any of their parts they of value or food?

Dennis

They would make a very unique and unusual trophy.....

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quote:

Originally posted by Caracal:
Sorry to hear that!
Never thought an ant eater could kill a man.

Why do people hunt then? Are any of their parts they of value or food?

Dennis

Locals (peasants and indigenous) eat them... Also his bones are used for alternative medicine (rheumatism treatment)... the inhalation of the smoke produced when burning his bristles is used to treat bronchitis and the remained ashes of his tail bristles are used for contraception and bleeding wounds.

Ah, also his fat is used as an ointment to prevent stretch marks in pregnancy... and probably many other uses indigenous ´ ancient customs and beliefs assume will obtain maaaaaany different intended effects...

The hunt of this animal is strictly forbidden ,this species is in dagnger because of deforestation not hunting .This guides took trophy collectors to hunt them ilegally ,besides that the natives as Martin explained kill it for different reasons .

quote:

ant bear

Except having that claw it seems like an unusual animal to kill a human. If he was poahing I guess Karma tok him hard.

Second person killed in the last two years the other accident was in a preserve .Its common the this type of aneater killed hunting dogs .

And here I thought this thread would be about a hunting guide killed by an Anti.

Grizz

More proof: Don't trust ANY animal, EVER!"
sure wouldn't expect such a thing from one of these. They must be much faster than they look in the zoo's.
Thanks for sharing the education with us.
George