Posted October 19, 2023 in General
International Sloth Day 2023
International Sloth Day (Friday 20th October) was established to celebrate these slow-moving creatures along with raising awareness around their habitat.
There are six species of sloths but here at Colchester Zoo, we are only home to one species, the Linne’s Two-toed Sloth.
Famous for being slow and spending their lives upside down, sloths are a favourite among visitors. The Linne’s two-toed sloth is found across central and south American forests, spending most of their lives in the upper levels of the tall forest trees and rarely venturing to the dangerous forest floor.
Sloths have a slow metabolism due to their low energy diets, but the lack of energy helps them to move slowly and not be noticed by predators.
Although this species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the overall threat to the population is habitat destruction by deforestation for logging.
DID YOU KNOW?
Sloths rarely drink water, getting all required moisture from juicy plants they consume.
We are home to 3 Linne’s Two-toed Sloths; 2 males called Tucurui and Calypso and 1 female, Carmen. Our Sloths can often be seen sleeping in odd places and making a mess with their food so be sure to pop by our Rainforest Walkthrough and Worlds Apart Walkthrough on your next visit and say hello to our adorable trio!
