Respect the Sloths!

We all know how cute, adorable, and lovable sloths are!  It would be easy to want to treat them like a teddy bear, but sloths are very independent creatures who deserve respect.  We are able to show respect when we take the time to know what is best for the sloth to thrive in its natural environment.  

Because sloths are slow, it might be easy to catch up to one in the wild or in tourist areas.  But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to do.  If a sloth gets scared, it might freeze.  If you notice that a sloth is reacting to you, give it some more space.  As cute and friendly-looking as sloths are, they are not the same as domestic animals who are used to continual human contact.  And even cats want their own space sometimes!  Sloths are highly solitary, not even spending a lot of time with other sloths.  So please keep your distance and respect them.  Human contact can be extremely stressful to a sloth.

This also means not falling for tourist traps that have you pay to hold a sloth or take a picture with a sloth.  If you want to visit sloths, make sure you do your research and find a place that is devoted to the care and respect of sloths, and which takes good care of sloths who cannot otherwise live in the wild.  Read more about respecting sloths in this article by The Sloth Institute of Costa Rica’s co-founder Sam Trull.

Evolutionary Sloth Moths

In this fascinating article by Dr. M. Alma Solis, Research Entomologist at the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institute), Dr. Solis recounts the history of how scientists learned about sloth moths.

Back in 1907, during a Smithsonian Biological Survey of Panama, a Lepidoptera (moths & butterflies) curator noticed that when a sloth fell from a tree, many small moths flew out of the fur on impact.  About 60 years later, other scientists realized that the caterpillars of the moths lived and fed on sloth dung, where their mother’s laid eggs.  Since then, scientists have catalogued multiple species of sloth moths in different locations.

The subfamily of moths that the sloth moths belong to, Chrysauguine, is mostly filled with bright-colored moths whose caterpillars feed on plants.  Sloth moths, on the other hand, have evolved to be dull-colored brown as camouflage in sloth fur.  They also do not have the same ability to produce sound with their wings as other Chrysauguine moths.  Perhaps the sloths appreciate the quiet!

Sloth Encounter! Visit to the Scoville Zoo

We had a business trip planned to Decatur, Illinois and then learned that a sloth lives at the Scoville Zoo!  So of course, visiting the sloth went to the top of the agenda.

Scoville Zoo opened to the public in 1967, and is now home to more than 400 animals.  The Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which means it meets the highest standards for animal care, exhibit maintenance, education, conservation, and administration.  It is a small zoo, easy to visit in just a few hours, and has play areas, a petting zoo, a carousel, and a train ride.

Most importantly, however, Scoville Zoo is home to a sloth!

A lovely female two-toed sloth spends her time at the zoo, hanging out and nibbling on treats.  Check out these pictures of the beautiful sloth.  Some are dark, but we wanted to avoid using a flash and startling the sloth:

Sloth Haiku

In the canopy

A sloth planet rises high

Life forms abounding

Documentary: A Sloth Named Velcro

Watch this documentary about Velcro, the orphaned sloth, and the amazing things we are learning about sloths:

Sloth Haiku

Do not struggle friend

Bask in the sun, enjoy life

Nestled in the leaves

Pygmy Sloth Video

The pygmy sloth, who only lives on one island, looks like a tiny teddy bear and is very good at swimming.   The BBC did a documentary on this relaxed, island-dwelling sloth.  Take a look at some of the video here to see live pygmy sloths swimming:

BBC Page on Pygmy Sloths

(click on the "Pygmy Sloth Discovery" Link at the bottom for the video)

Pygmy Sloth illustration

Mystery of the Pooping Sloths: Part One

Sloths digest their food very, very slowly.  They only go poop one time per week!  And when they do, they can drop 1/3 of their body weight in one go.  

When a sloth has to go, it climbs all the way down to the base of the tree to go poop.  For a slow-moving animal, being on the ground is not the safest place to be.  So why would a sloth go all the way down to poop?

Watch this video for a few theories, and then stay tuned for part two!

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss, But A Hanging Sloth Gathers Algae

Have you heard the phrase "a rolling stone gathers no moss"?  The Mythbusters have proved this is true:  after rolling a stone continuously for six months, it did not grow any moss.  The rolling stone has too much motion for the moss to be able to grow.

But a slow, slow, hanging sloth DOES gather algae.  Sloth hair is long and coarse, with good texture for creating a habitat for other organisms.  When scientists studied algae on sloth fur, they found that the most common algae was Trichophilus welckeri.  Mother sloths pass this on to their babies, so that young sloths are carrying their own algae colonies by the time they are a few weeks old.

So far, the scientists have not found this particular algae in any other environment, meaning that  there is likely a unique symbiotic relationship between the sloth and the algae.  The hair on two-toed sloth and three-toed sloths is different:  two-toed sloths have deep grooves that run the length of each hair; three-toed sloths have irregular cracks across the hair that increase in number with age (hair wrinkles!).  So three-toed sloths in particular will get a green-ish tinge to their hair from the algae co-habitating in their hair wrinkles.  This makes for good camouflage for our slow moving sloth friends.

Check out the green algae on this three-toed sloth, especially on the sloth's head and arms.

Research Article:  Molecular evidence for a diverse green algal community growing in the hair of sloths and a specific association with Trichophilus welckeri(Chlorophyta, Ulvophyceae)