by Dr. Fernando Riera S.
Sloths are neotropical animals that live in the rain forests of Central America. They are characterized by an eternal pleasant smile on their face. The animals are definitely out of the ordinary and with their hairy skin, large claws and slow movements; sloths cannot be confused with any other animal.
They are 100% arboreal and shift from branch to branch, moving in a very peculiar way which is hanging by their claws.Their main food source is leaves, they provide very little energy and nutrients, which is the reason for their sluggish movements. Their metabolism is extremely slow, and their stomach is divided into several cavities to absorb nutrients from the leaves. Digestion can take over a month to complete.
They prefer to spend their lifetimes in trees; they mate, eat, sleep and even have their babies hanging by their claws. Interestingly they don’t defecate hanging. They go down to the ground to relieve themselves or to move from one tree to another. Sloths are excellent swimmers; they have been observed crossing rivers and lagoons.
The algaes living in their fur provide an excellent camouflage among the leaves which, together with the slow movements, helps them go unnoticed by predators such as wild cats or eagles.
Occasionally you may find a sloth crossing the Coastal highway from one side to another. Please, park your car on the side of the road, stop the traffic carefully, look for a big stick to make the sloth grab it and help it to cross the road in order to avoid being hit! Do not lift the animal because it can hurt you! Sloths are very strong animals with very long arms and very sharp claws.
