Your best bet is probably contacting all the wildlife sanctuarys in your area and asking if they house any anteaters. I've always had an obsession with kangaroos and I did this and was able to find a local sanctuary who housed roos and I was able to get in their habitat and play with them. Great experience.
I hope you find what you're looking for and that he has a wonderful birthday!
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.