Sloths by Twy's Twavels - who knew?

We had a sloth biologist named Sarah from the UK leading our group of 12 people at the Jaguar Rescue Centre this morning.  I was kind of reluctant to spend our time and money there...but I can say that it was definitely worth the time and money!!!  We were in for a lot of learning!

This is what I learned....

There are two species of sloth that are completely distinct from each other.  Two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths are as different as chickens and turkeys.  They are both in the ant-eater family...but mostly only eat leaves which don't provide much nutrition (think about only eating lettuce all day, every day). Who knew?

All mammals have 7 cervical vertebrae (including giraffes and elephants, humans and blue whales)...get this - except sloths and manatees.  The vertebrae of two-toed sloths range between 5-6 and the three-toed sloths have 8-9 vertebrae.  Who knew?

Algae in their hair helps them camouflage, is anti-bacterial, anti-malarial, and may also possibly help with the fight against cancer as this type of algae is completely specific to the sloth.  They also can have moths, cockroaches and arthropods hiding in there.  Who knew?

They have a very low metabolism, less muscle mass than other mammals and have no way to regulate their body temperature.  They have four stomachs which take up a large part of their abdomen.  The leaves they eat take around 30 days to move through their digestive track - that's slow!  They are great swimmers due in part to their large stomach 'airbag'.  Who knew?

They come down from the trees once a week to defecate...and loose about 1/3 of their weight in that weekly trip (apparently, there are great youtube videos of the sloth poo dance...our guide said it was worthwhile to watch...I'll leave that up to you).  This is also their most vulnerable time as they are mostly without predators up in the trees.  Who knew?

The three-toed sloth will allow themselves to be picked up by humans if needed (which we watched being done when one was slowly making it's way across the road).  The two-toed sloth will easily grab the arms of someone behind them and bite (even through leather!). Who knew?

Costa Rica (the green eco-friendly country) is one of the leading user of pesticides in the world.  Who knew?  Those bananas we eat...(Dole, Del Monte, Chiquita) are heavily crop dusted, grown in pesticide laden bags and dipped in pesticides before being shipped.  These pesticides are being found in the hair, bones, teeth and nails of the sloths.  Sloths are being born with many deformities...such as being only one-toed, eyes fused together, missing an arm or leg, failure to thrive or with internal organs that are incompatible with life.  Many more sloths are dying than being born - making them move towards greater danger of extinction.  However, no count has ever been made of the sloth populations worldwide - so, it's currently impossible to know what is happening 40 meters above us in their solitary existences.  Who knew?




The life span of sloths has never been documented...maybe our children will know that answer in the years to come!  (It is estimated to be well past 70 years based on one female in captivity of 49 years who is still going into heat every month.) Who knew?

Sloths give birth in the trees...the baby sloth clings to the Momma and doesn't let go.  It is born ready to climb trees with only a thin covering over it's claws that is quickly removed upon delivery.  A baby sloth may fall from the trees and the Momma Sloth will climb down to gather her young - however, if this happens too many times, eventually abandonment will take place as the Mom doesn't have the energy to keep climbing up and down.  And baby sloths don't have a specific name...just baby sloth...maybe we should come up with a name - slothito, slothette?  Who knew?

Sloths are survivors!  They can fall to the ground from up to 90 feet in the air...and live to climb back up without a broken bone or internal injury.  As a matter of fact, they bounce upon landing because of their large stomach.  They are very hardy creatures when it comes to adapting to their tree top world and in the same way that lizards can regenerate a tail or leg...a sloth can regenerate a finger/claw/toe.  Who knew?

I am amazed at the unique, fascinating, adaptive characteristics of the sloth...who knew?

5 baby 'slothettes' cuddling in a basket...staying warm together as they can get hypothermia without the body heat of their mothers here in the +30 climate of Costa Rica - who knew?

(Honestly, I can't imagine being hypothermic in this hot humid climate!!!)