Peek at a 2-day-old Baby Sloth
February 03, 2018
Denver Zoo is happy to announce the arrival of a baby Linne’s Two-toed Sloth, who was born on January 28 to Charlotte Greenie, the zoo’s 21-year-old female Sloth, and her 27-year-old mate, Elliot. Charlotte and the baby, whose name has not yet been chosen or gender identified, are both healthy and thriving and made their public debut on February 1.
Photo Credit: Denver Zoo
Throughout her 10-month pregnancy, Charlotte, who came to Denver Zoo from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in 2015, and her baby were closely monitored by zoo experts with regular ultrasounds, checkups and weigh-ins to ensure they were healthy and gaining the appropriate amount of weight. Keepers even devised an innovative method to weigh Charlotte by training her to come to a specific branch connected to a scale. The baby clung to Charlotte immediately after birth and will continue to cling to her almost exclusively for at least six months.
Linne’s Two-toed Sloths, which are also known as the Linnaeus’s Two-toed Sloth or Southern Two-toed Sloth, are found in the rainforests of South America, primarily in Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. They are a nocturnal species that spend 15 to 20 hours per day sleeping. They become active about an hour after sunset until about two hours before sunrise.
See more photos below.
The world's six species of Sloths are grouped into two families: Two-toed Sloths and Three-toed Sloths. All six species are found in Central and South America. Although the Linne’s Two-toed is not currently considered threatened, two other species, the Pygmy Three-toed Sloth and Maned Sloth, are listed as Critically Endangered and Vulnerable, respectively, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.