A life in slow-motion

The sloth is a popular mammal famous for its slowness. He moves slowly and spends his days at a leisurely pace. The sloth is an enigmatic and unique animal, because even its appearance is intriguing.

It has a fur with greyish green tones that cannot be said to be his, since among its threads lives a kind of seaweed that gives it that shade. Thanks to the effect of these algae, the sloth is able to camouflage itself between the leaves. It measures about 60 cm and weighs around 4 kg.

Think of big claws! They are used to climb trees. Sloths are like monkeys, only slower and use their arms and nails to stick in the treetops. The upper limbs of this animal are longer than the lower ones and they have three fingers on each paw, with these fingers and their claws, it can cling tightly to the branches of the trees where it lives. 

The sloth only descends from the tree to do its physiological needs or to go to another tree. Sloths do their physiological needs, on average, only once a week. So, if you find it like that on the floor, don’t get in the way. It may be that he is ‘having his moment’.

It is a real ‘Miss Sympathy’ from the Amazon. Always ‘smiling’, because of the shape of its mouth that crosses its face from side to side, the sloth can also be considered one of the chillest animals of the Amazon: it feeds on leaves, likes to sleep, he is clumsy and also knows how to swim.

Because it is a peaceful animal, it’s only defense against predators (jaguars, harpies or snakes) is camouflage. Even with long claws, the metabolism is slow, which prevents it from having the agility to defend itself.

He can only travel an average of two meters per minute on land, walking at most 38 meters per day. The sloth lives practically all the time without changing its position.

Its importance for the environment is the fact that it assists other species, such as beetles, which use it as a means of transport, in addition to helping to sow the forest by carrying plants from one tree to another.

Think of an animal that likes to sleep! The sloth spends approximately 14 hours a day asleep hanging from the trees. Perhaps this is the secret of its longevity, because a healthy sloth and in favorable conditions, has a life expectancy between 30 to 40 years old.

The sloth’s gestation lasts about four to six months. Its offspring, in the first week, starts to feed on leaves, however, breastfeeding can last up to four weeks. Throughout this period, it lives close to the mother. After six months of life, the puppy is left by the mother and begins to live alone.

Oh, and did you know that this animal does not drink water? That’s because the food he eats already contains water. They can even drink a drop of dew that falls on the leaves, but only if it’s very close to them so they won’t have to move.