Press Release
For Immediate Release
Date: June 30, 2006
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For More Information
Contact: Cynthia Shipley
Supervisor, Public Relations
(416) 392-5938 |
AND WE THOUGHT SLOTH PARENTS
WERE JUST HANGING AROUND!
June 30, 2006, Toronto, Ontario: It can expect to spend most of its life upside down, moving slowly - very slowly - along the branches of trees. It assists at its own birth. It has long guard hairs in which single cell algae live, giving it a green sheen, and making it look like a bundle of dried leaves when hanging with its four limbs all together. This extraordinary animal, called a two-toed sloth, was born on Sunday, June 25th, 2006, in the Zoo's Americas Pavilion, to Mom Tania and Dad Buddy.
"Sloths are such unique animals that we are very pleased to have the Toronto Zoo's first birth of this species," says Maria Franke, Curator of Mammals. "I have worked with animals for over 20 years now and nature never ceases to amaze me. This is certainly one cool creature and an incredibly cute baby!"
Mom sloths give birth hanging upside down from a branch. Babies, born after a 120 day gestation period, pull themselves up to the mother's belly. Newborns are approximately 25 cm long and weigh 300 to 400g. They ride comfortably on their mother's upturned belly and will not be truly independent until they are nine months old.
Still common in the tropical rainforests of South and Central America, where they inhabit the forest canopy, two-toed sloths have a grey-brown coat which is slightly lighter on the face. Their forelimbs have two digits; their hind limbs have three. Encased for most of their length in a sheath of skin and muscle, these digits terminate in huge hooked claws. Sloths have no tails.
All their water is obtained from dew and their vegetarian diet. Two-toed sloths have difficulty regulating their body temperature and thus can only live in tropical rainforests. Typically a sloth will spend its day hanging motionless. The mystery is how these defenceless animals have managed to survive in a region where there are large birds of prey and climbing carnivores.
Visit this fascinating baby in the Primate Wing of the Zoo's Americas Pavilion.
