Save Our Sloths!

Years before Sloths inspired best selling books, TV specials and Kirsten Bell meltdowns, ZooBorns was delivering them to your eyeballs courtesy of The Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica. This unique facility has been rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned and injured sloths for over 20 years. Now they need our help.

With almost 150 Sloths in their care, The Sloth Sanctuary is reaching capacity and needs to release more rescued animals back into the wild. In order to ensure these animals are thriving, biologist Rebecca Cliffe is raising money for GPS tracking equipment that will allow staff to monitor the released animals. This will also provide critical data in support of the Sloth Backpack Project, which seeks to better understand sloth diet, habitat preferences and reproductive habits. Learn more about this effort and contribute to Save Our Sloths on Indiegogo.

How many baby Sloth can you count above? Photo credits: Becky Cliffe / The Sloth Sanctuary

Need that link again? Learn more about this effort and contribute to Save Our Sloths on Indiegogo.

Mystic Aquarium Visits Baby Sloth at Sloth Sanctuary Costa Rica

Is this baby Three-toed Sloth smiling? Only three weeks old, it seemingly posed for photographer Patrick Shea, part of the team representing Mystic Aquarium, Nautilus Live and The JASON Project. They were in Costa Rica the week of March 19, researching for a new Mystic Aquarium exhibit to open next year. The group was also scouting locations for live programming through JASON and Nautilus. Along the way they made a visit to the Sloth Sanctuary Costa Rica, where they rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned Sloths, and met the little one.

There are both Two-toed and Three-toed Sloths. Both are built for living their entire life - even when having babies - hanging in the trees, aided by those long, powerful claws. They are so sedentary that moss grows on their coat (which aids them as camouflage while living among the leaves)! This has won them the informal title of worlds slowest mammal. They sleep from 15-20 hours a day, and even while awake, they move very little, unless threatened by a predator.  At night they eat the trees leaves, shoots, and fruit and get almost all of their water from juicy plants.

You can read more ZooBorns posts about sloths from this sanctuary HERE. 

Photo Credit: Patrick Shea/Sea Research Foundation

Healing Pajama Party for Twin Baby Sloths

You have read often about the good work being done at Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary here on ZooBorns. Sloth Sanctuary owner Judy Avey-Arroyo is always at work to raise the orphaned baby Sloths that arrive to be healthy and strong. Since the babies are growing up without their mother's antibody-filled milk, they're much more at risk of infection. In the video below, you'll learn of two little ones who are suffering from mange -- a skin infection that is caused by parasitic mites.

But it's another of Judy's proven home remedies to the rescue! The babies get a total body hair cut to remove the place the mites would live. Then, a soothing balm of sulfer and lard skin gets slathered from top to bottom to suffocate any remaining mites. But to keep the babies from licking it all off, the babies are wrapped in colorful bandages... which end up looking a lot like onesies. Watch it all in the video below. 

 

The Sloths Are Coming (Slowly) to a TV Near You!

Filmmaker Lucy Cooke's full length hour-long documentary "Too Cute! Baby Sloths" premiers this Saturday, December 17th at 8pm EST on Animal Planet. The film (and trailer below) features lots of baby Sloths, the residents of The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, the world's only Sloth sanctuary. Most are orphans whose mothers have been killed by power lines or cars. These orphans have a new, if slightly unconventional mom in celebrated Sloth whisperer Judy Arroyo.

Two of the biggest stars of the film (and trailer) are Violet and Sebastian - the sanctuary's first ever twins. While Lucy was filming they both got sick with a skin condition and had to pay a visit to the sanctuary 'slothpital'. Violet got wrapped up in pink bandages and Sebastian was given specialized sloth pajamas made out of sports socks! (Sebastian in his jammies above)

Judy now has over 160 sloths at the sanctuary which is a lot of mouths to feed. The sloths chomp through 40 tons of vegetables every year. You can help keep these slothful friends fed by making a donation to the Sanctuary today!

Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary Compilation Video

We've covered the great work done by the folks at the Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica before but this new video of baby and adult sloths at their facility takes the cake.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

We think the Sanctuary's Mission statement sums their work up best: To consolidate our Sanctuary as an agency that promotes and implements the protection and rehabilitation of sloths in Costa Rica, through the observation, study, care and analysis of animals in recovery; to promote actions that raise people's awareness and to facilitate education in order to improve the welfare and quality of life of Costa Rica's two species of sloth.

Thanks to reader Olivia Ross for the tip.

Baby Sloths at Aviarios del Caribe

We have featured Costa Rica's sloth rescue center, Aviarios del Caribe, in the past but never any of their incredible baby sloth videos. Enjoy this recent footage and some older video from the world's only sloth rescue center. 

If you are interested in supporting Aviarios del Caribe, adoption information can be found here. Also note that the center includes a boutique hotel for the adventurous so consider planning your next  vacation to sloth-land. 

Baby Bradypus Sloth at Aviarios Sanctuary

The Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary cares for injured and orphaned sloths in Costa Rica. They also lead sloth education efforts to improve the plight of wild sloths. From time to time, they even have a captive birth, including this baby three-toed sloth called a bradypus or pale-throated sloth. 

At 2 days old, the baby bradypus weighed just 425 grams or 15 ounces!

Here the little guy tries to get a taste of what mom is eating.

At two weeks he has packed on the pounds, or pound rather, weighing 475 grams or just over 1 lb. 

You can help the Sloth Sanctuary by adopting a sloth, purchasing items on their wishlist, or even visiting next time you are in the neighborhood in Costa Rica.

Baby Sloths at Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary

The Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica rescues injured and orphaned sloths. Many of these sloths are released back into the wild but often stick around the neighborhood.  

This series of photos follows Joy, a baby sloth born on October 25, 2008 to two of the sanctuary's residents, Juliett and Gigia. Mama Juliet came to the sanctuary with severe electrical burns. However since then she has thrived and become a sweet and gentle resident. Father Gigia was rescued from street vendors when he was a week old. Joy is the pair's their fourth baby.

In addition to rehabilitation, Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary promotes conservation and sloth interests within Costa Rica. Joy and her parents are two-toed sloths, also called Choloepus. Many many more photos below the fold.