No, that’s not a dinosaur. Or dragon. Or Pokémon.
It’s a baby southern three-ringed armadillo, born at the Virginia Zoo in August.
The second pup born to its mother, Izel, and father, Vigo, southern three-ringed armadillos are the only species of armadillos that can ball up completely, the zoo’s assistant curator of animal ambassadors Tara Baumgardner said. They are considered a near-threatened species and native to south-central South America.
“You’ll see she’s in a ball, or he’s in a ball, which is why we can’t sex it,” she said. “Their head and tail go opposite of each other and fit together like puzzle pieces.”
The baby has not been named, and won’t be until the sex has been determined.
When rolled in a ball, the armadillos don’t move, unless they were perhaps knocked around by a predator on an uneven surface, Baumgardner said. Their hard shells are made of keratin, the same material that makes up human hair and fingernails.
A distant relative to anteaters, these armadillos primarily eat ground-dwelling bugs.
Baumgardner said the pup, which was born Aug. 31, is about the size of a softball. It will grow until it’s larger than a grapefruit yet smaller than a cantaloupe. The pup weighed in at 135 grams a week after birth but now, roughly seven weeks later, weighs about 560, which is a little more than a pound. The pup is “growing like a weed,” Baumgardner said.
Zoo staff have placed the mother and the pup in a “whelping box” which allows for privacy and burrowing. The father was separated from the process for the pup’s safety.
The new southern three-ring armadillo pup and its mother are rolled up behind the scenes at the Virginia Zoo. (Virginia Zoo/Courtesy)
The armadillo pair were recommended as a breeding pair and ambassadors for the Southern Three-banded Armadillo Species Survival Plan, a program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that seeks to bolster the species growth while educating the public.
The last pup fostered by this armadillo pair, a female born in 2019 named Malassada, was moved to another facility at the recommendation of the species survival plan and recently reared her own pup, zoo spokesperson Emily Smicker said, making the bony-plated mammals grandparents.
Zoo officials don’t have an estimate on when or if the pup will be viewable to the public.
In the wild, some could be poached for their shells or to be illegally traded as pets. The ambassador program, Baumgardner said, aims to highlight the role southern three-ringed armadillos play to their environments and the threats that are posed to them in the wild.
John Buzbee, 757-879-7421, john.buzbee@virginiamedia.com
https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/10/21/armadillo-birth-virginia-zoo/
