One slow step for Sloth kind

One of the things that not only do I obsess over but I love and am extremely passionate about is Sloths. I have done a lot of research about these beautiful creatures and I thought I'd share a little bit of the information that I've gathered, which you may or may not know about these lovely animals.

Sloths are slow moving mammals that live in the trees of the rain forests. There are two species of Sloths,  Choloepus hoffmani, also known as two-toed Sloth and Bradypus variegates, also known as the three-toed Sloth. 

Fun Fact: When you see a greenish coloring on a Sloth, it isn't their real color, it comes from the algae on the trees.

Three-toed Sloth.

Fun fact: Did you know that Sloths go to the toilet once a week? They climb down from their branch (incredibly slowly of course), wrap their arms around a tree and perform a (slow) little dance by wiggling from side to side. 


There are a differences between the two toed and three toed sloth other than the number of toes. The three-toed Sloths are more well known for their color, with grey and brown hair and striped bands across the eyes like a mask whereas the two-toed Sloth has a darker blonde to a brown body and a lighter face with brown rings around their eyes.
For Mr two-toes the area around the nose is hairless and longer than its cousins who has a shorter nose. Mr three-toes has arms that are nearly twice as long as his legs, unlike the two-toed who's arms and legs are the same length.Unlike the two-toes, the three-toes have a tail no bigger than 4 inches and also have 9 vertebrate which allows them to turn their head nearly 270 degrees. This allows them to see predators from a much greater scale.

Fun fact: Did you know that two-toed Sloths actually have three toes, however they do have two fingers but they are more commonly known as two-toed, rather than two-fingered. 

Unfortunately, when baby Sloths fall out of trees more often than not, the mother will abandon it. On the forest floor it is dangerous for a Sloth, especially as it is so slow. In the trees they do have more advantage due to their main predators residing on the forest floor. Also when Sloth babies have something wrong such as they cannot cling to trees and will keep falling off, the mother will sense this and abandon it. 
These poor babies are left to die, however there are sanctuaries to help rehabilitate and rescue them. They help develop their survival skills, which some can be lacking in due to no or little time with their mothers. They also provide a place for Sloths that have lost 
their homes due to deforestation. 

Sanctuaries like the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica provide homes for these Sloths. Their website is packed with facts and information collected from 1 on 1 study and work with Sloths. 
Please check out their website HERE to see what amazing voluntary work these people are doing and learn more about Sloths. If you can, please try and donate to the sanctuary, even giving a little will go along way, its a great cause and goes to saving these gorgeous animals and helping get them back in the wild where they belong.