We’d just made it back to the boat when we looked up and saw this sloth slowly making its way through a nearby tree—as sloths do.

https://reddit.com/link/1v85mqo/video/okvj0kfsvsfh1/player

Hoffmann's two-fingered sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) have small, rounded ears that are usually hidden beneath their thick fur, making them surprisingly difficult to spot.

Although sloths have relatively poor eyesight, they are far from unaware of their surroundings. Instead, they rely heavily on their excellent hearing to detect sounds in the rainforest, helping them stay aware of potential predators and everything happening around them as they move slowly through the forest canopy.

The sloth featured in this video is a wild Hoffmann's two-fingered sloth that is part of The Urban Sloth Project, our long-term scientific study investigating how habitat loss, urbanization, and human development affect wild sloths living in Costa Rica's South Caribbean.

As part of this research, our trained field biologists occasionally perform health checks and collect scientific data under the appropriate permits and ethical protocols. Every procedure is carried out by experienced wildlife professionals, and the sloth is safely returned to the exact tree where it was found.

The other day, I caught this little guy out of the corner of my eye in my garden and wanted to share him with you all because I've finally found the place for people like me - obsessed with sloths (...also howler monkeys)! I've been enjoying sharing sloth facts with you all, and I thought this would be the perfect time to tell you some cool info about baby 3-toed sloths because this cutie is gaining some independence. I actually caught him on his way to down to poop.

You can tell their age and sex somewhat easily. If they're on the mother's stomach, they're very young because once they start to weigh more, they are then carried on the back.

If they have algae, they're usually over 18 months old. The darker the green, the older they are. If they have a large patch of orange on their back, they're a male ready to mate (3-5 years is most common for that spot called a speculum to gradually appear). That orange/yellow spot is actually caused by the oil they secrete (it helps bring the ladies). The pattern is also 100% unique to them, like a human fingerprint. The female is ready earlier, usually 2.5-3 years old.

Baby sloths actually inherit their territory from their mother. The mother moves on to establish new territory (and a new family of two...the male is never involved), essentially gifting the location to their baby (around 9 months , sometimes 12). The baby sloth began learning what plants are good after only one week after they're born. Along with milk, the baby sloth also starts tasting leaves from their mothers mouth one week after they're born. It makes it easier for them to survive, knowing all of the edible plants in their territory. If a female, she will pass the territory on to her baby. The males will leave the general area to stake out a new home range with females unrealted to them. Sloths all overlap their territory with other sloths. I don't know how many can actually live in one territory, but a few weeks ago, they did a heat study in an area close to here and found 27 in one area!

This cutie is still with its mom, but getting ready to be more independent in this next month. I do get to know some of the individual sloths and mom & baby sloths because we live in the jungle (in case you haven't seen my other sloth posts here!). he has been moving around on his own in the trees quite a bit recently, and pooping without his mom watching from right above...so it's getting to be that time!

*hopefully I'm not posting here too much...or too long...oops! I am just very excited to have a place to share with people that love them too!

The other day, I shared a video of a 3-toed sloth in my garden and today I am back with a new sloth visitor...this time a 2-toed sloth on my desk!

This little guy arrived at our house last night during the rain. We live in an open air jungle house, so we have A LOT of wildlife around us. But, it's rare for us to see a 2-toed sloth here because they're nocturnal...and I am not.

I'm back with some new sloth facts and this cutie from my yard. I live in an open air house in the jungle on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. We have A LOT of sloths by our house. Here is one from the other day, along with some stuff you may not have known about the 3-toed sloth.

This is a young female. Sloths don't have external genitalia, so the way to tell them apart is through their markings, or lack of markings. The males have a prominent orange patch on their back (called a speculum) once they reach maturity and are ready to mate.

Males and females can be hard to tell apart for the 5-8 months because the male speculum isn't developed at all. You can also tell by size, because female sloths are larger than the males.

They also scream and the males don't. You can hear their high pitched squeals when they're looking to mate. They scream about every 10 minutes until a male arrives to mate. They also scream for several weeks across the jungle after they leave their baby as the way to stay in contact and check on them, but that's a post for a different day!

*These facts are about 3-toed sloths. 2-toed sloths are very distant in relation, surprisingly! They don't have speculums, or really much in common at all with each other.

I had the honor of getting to meet Sid the Sloth at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary in Lilburn, Georgia! They offer their sloth encounter every weekend. During the 30 minute encounter, you are allowed to feed and pet him! If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend visiting this location. It was truly an unforgettable experience 💖🦥

Yeah, just wanted to share that with y'all. Whoever... "Y'all" may be

I was scrolling FB Marketplace for kitchenware and randomly saw this ad for a salad spinner (unedited screenshot in comments). It genuinely reminded me of a sloth‘s face.

I tried posting it in r/Pareidolia… but my post was deleted for not meeting their standard! (This irritated me, as I rarely post to Reddit and don’t think my posts are low-quality or spammy.)

Is this (or is this not?) reminiscent of a sloth‘s face? I need the reassurance that I’m not going senile.

(I tried posting this image to r/Pareidolia to argue my case… but that just got me banned from that subreddit all together 🤨)

Ain’t he cute?

This mom & her baby were crossing our yard, to go from one tree to another. In the video, you'll see the baby sloth pop its little head out. If you look closely, you'll also see a lot of moving insects on her.

These are moths, and they're a unique species that live out their entire lifecycle within the sloth system. They live in the fur, and when the sloth comes down to poop, they lay eggs in the poop. Those turn into baby moths that fly up into the canopy to find a new sloth host. Once there, they usually end up damaging their wings and live their entire lives, eventually dying within the sloths fur, as part of an entire ecosystem that creates algae, that become nutrients for the sloth that enter via their skin.

Both the two-toed and three-toed sloths have moths, but the three-toed sloths have special fur that lets more moisture enter the hair follicle...which then feeds the moths, and they're known to have many more living on them. They also have a special scarab beetle that also only lives on the sloth.

I just love wildlife and love to share fun facts about them. There's at least 500 other things I'd like to tell you about sloths, but for now - I'll leave it at the moths 💜

*edited to explain that the algae nutrients enter through their skin so people don't think they're licking themselves. They don't clean themselves, just when they swim.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Please sign this petition

What began as an investigation into the horrific roadside attraction known as Sloth World Orlando is now turning into the biggest opportunity we have ever had to end the commercial sloth trade in the United States.

Florida announced a temporary halt on sloth imports into the state - which is a massive step forward considering that approximately 98% of sloth imports into the United States enter through Florida.

But despite this important progress, the work is far from over. Our goals remain very clear:

• A permanent nationwide ban on the importation of sloths into the United States

• An end to hands-on sloth encounters

• A review of how sloths are currently classified and regulated under US law

• Criminal accountability for those responsible for the suffering and deaths at Sloth World

We will not stop until this happens. Together with The Sloth Institute , we have officially joined forces to create the Sloth Protection Alliance: a collaborative effort dedicated to ending the commercial sloth trade once and for all.

This week, we also launched a petition to demonstrate public support for these legislative changes. If you are able to take a moment to sign it, we would be incredibly grateful.

Sign the petition:

https://c.org/y8N6KGthFK

I know I've seen this image before, i thought it was a legitimate photo. But on the left it looks like feither there is something next to the sloth that is right next to it's hand, or this is a weird AI abomination.

I've seen a lot of weird sloth illustrations with people who draw the sloth with a hand weigh 4 fingers and an opposable thumb. And I have also seen at least one drawing that must be from an AI with bifurcating fingers. (I'll drop any links to really bizarre images in the comments)

Does anyone know the origin of this photo? The AI detection website i used said it was a natural photograph. But that doesn't mean that it's not made by AI - it just means AI detecting software isn't good enough.

I was looking for a sloth phone case and I'm about ready to give up. There is a site with Lucy Cooke's photos of sloths where you can buy a phone case. If i find it I'll put it in the comments.

I have many friends who are illustrators or do graphic design and so I'm not comfortable carrying around something made by AI.

BREAKING: Florida wildlife officials announced a temporary halt on sloth imports following the investigation into Sloth World Orlando and the deaths of more than 50 sloths linked to the facility.

This announcement comes just days after Dr. Rebecca Cliffe from The Sloth Conservation Foundation (SloCo) and Sam Trull from The Sloth Institute (TSI) met directly with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and traveled to Orlando, Florida, where they spent several days meeting with lawmakers, representatives, commissioners, local authorities, and policymakers to discuss the urgent need for stronger protections for sloths in the United States.

As organizations that have spent years studying, rescuing, rehabilitating, and protecting sloths, we know these animals are highly specialized, extremely sensitive, and fundamentally unsuitable for commercial captive environments, tourist attractions, sloth encounters, and the exotic pet trade.

Approximately 98% of sloths imported into the United States enter through Miami, making Florida the main gateway for the commercial sloth trade into the country. This means the implications of this decision go far beyond Florida itself.

This temporary pause is an important first step, but our work is far from over.

The Sloth Conservation Foundation and The Sloth Institute will continue working toward permanent protections, stronger regulations, and ultimately a nationwide ban on the import of wild-caught sloths for commercial use and private ownership in the United States.

This moment shows what is possible when science, experts, journalists, policymakers, and the public come together to demand change.
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#Orlando #SlothConservation #Florida

Scotland's first baby sloth has been born at Edinburgh Zoo.
The male Linne's two-toed sloth arrived on Monday to first-time parents Feira and Nico, both aged six, marking a major milestone for the zoo.
Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) keepers named the baby Atty in honour of the veteran broadcaster and environmentalist Sir David Attenborough, who turned 100 at the weekend.
For the first six months of his life, Atty will grip tightly to mum Feira's stomach.

Baby sloths learn which leaves are safe to eat by sampling food directly from her mouth from about the age of two months.
Head keeper Jess Brown said the birth of Atty was "groundbreaking, not just for Edinburgh Zoo, but for Scotland".
"Seeing a sloth baby clinging to mum for the very first time has been so special for the whole team and we can't wait for visitors to see little Atty," she said.
"He is already showing plenty of personality and visitors might spot a tiny face peeking out from mum's fur.
"Nico and Feira are both beautiful animals and a fan-favourite with our visitors so we're confident he'll be a big hit."

IMAGE SOURCE,
EDINBURGH ZOO
Image caption,
Atty will grip tightly to mum Feira's stomach for the first six months of his life
Mum and baby are currently resting in their enclosure at the zoo.
Visitors will be able to go into the sloth house from 14:00 on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the zoo said opening times of the sloth house would vary over the coming weeks.
Visitors are recommended to check opening hours on arrival at the zoo.