After some competition between our two male sloths over our lone female we moved one of the males, named Calypso, to another enclosure. However, he wasn’t alone for long as we welcomed a second female sloth to join him at the ‘Rainforest Walkthrough’ – a long term blind date!
Our newest addition to the sloth group arrived from Chemnitz, Germany and has already settled in to her indoor enclosure. She and Calypso will be gradually introduced but have already had the chance to meet through the mesh of their sleeping area so we’re sure it won’t be long before we see them out in the enclosure together happily climbing the various ropes and posts available. Calypso’s new friend doesn’t have a name yet but keepers are working on it as they get to know her personality – watch this space!
Meanwhile over at ‘Worlds Apart’ our other male Tucurui is back in his stride and is happily living alongside our resident female Gallina without any further interruptions! As we have now established two pairs it is hoped that in time we may welcome some young.
This unusual leaf-eating animal spends most of its life hanging upside down in the forest canopy. It carries out the majority of its activities in this position such as eating, sleeping and even giving birth! It rarely comes down from the trees as this can be very risky if any predators are about. The Sloth is one of the slowest animals in world, moving at an average speed of 0.5km per hour, but they are capable of moving at about 1.6km per hour.
The two toed Sloth is listed as least concern by the IUCN red list. This is due to their wide distribution and occurrence in protected areas. However they are particularly at risk from deforestation as they are not fast moving enough to escape from logging areas.