Sloths are native to the rainforests of South America.  They range from Nicaragua, Columbia, Venezuela, the Guianas to north central Brazil and northern Peru.  The most successful large mammals of the tropical forest, they are unusual and interesting animals.  Sloths certainly live up to their common name – they hold the world's record for the slowest moving land animal.

Sloths are arboreal leaf eaters that spend most of their time hanging upside down from tree branches.  In this position they feed, sleep, breed and move around.  They seem to have invented the concept of the hammock.

Sloths have extremely coarse hair; mop-like and musty smelling.  It is gray to brown in color but usually tinted green due to the presence of algae.  Beetles and moths also inhabit their hair.  The hair grows backwards, parting down the center of the chest and stomach, ankles and shoulders so rainwater drains away as they hang -- an adaptation to an upside-down life.  Long, curved claws are actually hooks, which lock onto branches making hanging effortless.  Movement among the branches and vines of the forest is smooth and agile due to loose wrist and ankle joints.  Sloths are also excellent swimmers and can escape from predators by falling into the river.

Sloths are nocturnal and are active only about 7 hours out of each day.  Metabolism in these animals is very low, about half that of other similarly sized mammals.  Low body temperature and sluggishness conserve energy.  Sloths warm up in the morning by sunbathing.

The digestive tract of sloths is long and complicated like other herbivores.  A multi-chambered stomach contains bacteria to digest and ferment the fibrous plant material. Meals may take up to a month to digest.  Sloths urinate and defecate only once a week.  They descend to the base of the tree to deposit their wastes.  While the sloth defecates moths jump off its fur to lay eggs in the fecal pellets and jump aboard again before the sloth climbs back up the tree.  The moth larvae will feed on the fecal pellets.

It is puzzling that sloths would make such an arduous trip down to the forest floor to eliminate wastes rather than release them from high in the canopy as the monkeys do. Sloths are very vulnerable on the ground.  They cannot stand upright so they drag themselves around awkwardly.  The fecal material of herbivores is rich in nutrients.  It is thought by some researchers that the sloth is fertilizing the tree that it inhabits, thus recycling the nutrients that it has consumed.

The two-toed sloths are silent creatures.  They may hiss when disturbed. Our sloths have been heard grinding their teeth, and they will bite when handled!

The South American Harpy Eagle feeds largely on sloths.  These eagles are the world's heaviest eagle and have thick wrists and long talons.  The algae in the sloth's fur is thought to help camouflage them from harpy eagles.   Also, hanging motionless upside down makes the sloths resemble termite nests.  Other predators of the sloth include weasels and cats and the local humans who hunt them for meat. 

There are 5 species of sloths.  The larger two-toed sloths inhabit higher elevations while the three-toed sloths are found at lower elevations and can be seen in the treetops near rivers.

Notes:  Both the two-toed and three-toed sloths actually have three toes on their hind limbs; the two-toed sloth has two toes or "fingers" on their forelimbs instead of three.  Sloths share the Order Edentata (meaning "without teeth") with armadillos and anteaters...however, sloths do have teeth: crushing molars to chew leaves.

Our sloths were named Jeckle (male) and Lolohi (female). Jeckle was born April 1, 1999 and arrived in Hilo December 15, 2000 from Florida.  He weighed about 20 pounds.  Lolohi arrived in June 2002.  Lolohi means “slowpoke” in Hawaiian, but she is definitely not slow, especially when it’s feeding time!  In March of 2006, Jeckle died of  heart failure.  In 2007 another pair have joined Lolohi on exhibit.

Their diet consists of Melochia leaves, sweet potato, and sloth chow pellets.  Life span in captivity is about 31 years.  Gestation is 304 days producing one offspring, which is carried around by the mother for several months before it starts foraging on its own.