The sloth is a mysteriously smiling, slow-moving, and overall friendly-looking animal. Maybe that’s why a lot of people instantly develop a fondness for sloths. It certainly is the case for all of us at Slothino!
We not only have adopted their name into our name but are also concerned about the future of the species. In this blogpost we therefore tell you all about this fantastic creature.
What is a sloth exactly?
A sloth is a bit of a mixed bag. It mainly lives in trees and feeds on plants and shares certain characteristics with monkeys. It nevertheless is a completely non-related animal. Sloths are mammals in the order of Pilosa. This makes them close relatives of anteaters and distantly related to armadillos.
There are two distinct groups: two-toed and three-toed sloths. Within these two groups, there is a total of six different species. All of them spend most of their lives hanging upside down in trees and moving at a very particular and extremely slow speed.
Their slow speed is actually the key to survival. Many predators do not notice them because they move so slow and stealthy.
Fun facts about sloths
Did you know that:
- Algae grow in the fur of sloths
- The sloth moth only feeds on these algae
- Sloths can barely walk but are able to swim
- Giant sloths of up to six meters in length used to roam the earth. They became extinct about 12.000 years ago
- The pygmy sloth can only be found on Isla Escudo de Veraguas in Panama and is only about 50 centimeters long
Sloth habitat in danger
Sloths only live in the wild in the tropical rainforests in South and Central America. Deforestation is threatening to destroy what is left of their habitat. Sloths have been around for almost 64 million years and it would be a big shame if we do not save them from extinction in our lifetime.
Charity organizations
If you want to support the sloth we can recommend these charity organizations:
