August has been a really hectic month here in the South Caribbean, and as typical of the rainy season, we had several storms throughout the month that made us postpone or cancel our plans many times.

Occasionally, sloths have been known to give birth to twins. Since there is only enough room on the female’s chest for one baby, and the sloth’s very slow metabolism only provides enough resources for one,  the weakest twin will usually be rejected and abandoned.

Earlier this year, Jenny Berla and her family vacationed in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, where they witnessed an uncommon event – a sloth giving birth on the ground! Sloth births typically occur in trees, making this sighting particularly remarkable.

A baby sloth is fully reliant on it’s mother to teach it how to survive in the canopy of the rainforest. They are fragile yet fascinating little creatures, and here you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about baby sloths!

These two sloths are not only different species, but they belong to two completely different families, separated by over 30 million years of evolution. Cross-species adoptions like this are incredibly rare in the wild, with only 3 other documented observations of this happening.