Tales from the Jungle | August 2026
If you remember last month's update, you might remember that we were on the verge of floating away because of all the rain. Well, I am delighted to report that one month later... we are still on the verge of floating away.
The rain has been relentless. As I write this, Costa Rica is being hit by tropical wave number 37 of the year, which feels slightly excessive. Earlier this month, parts of the Caribbean received as much as 360 mm of rain in just 48 hours, causing major flooding, road closures and emergencies across the region.
Here in our little corner of the South Caribbean, we've had the usual consequences: flooded roads, fallen trees, extremely soggy sloths, and research plans that increasingly begin with "well, let's see what the weather does."
Thankfully, we have learned a thing or two from sloths over the years. Whatever chaos is happening around you, you just keep going. And despite the weather, August has actually been a rather wonderful month.
Connecte Team working hard!
Martita Takes The High Road
Back in June, we installed a new canopy bridge over a main highway after GPS data from Martita, one of the sloths we monitor, revealed that she had crossed the road on the ground - dodging traffic with her baby clinging to her belly. Just 24 hours after we installed that bridge, a troop of howler monkeys was already using it. Then we received a report from the community that a sloth had crossed.
Martita using her bridge!
This month, though, we got the confirmation we'd really been hoping for. While our research team was tracking Martita in the area, they watched Martita herself use the bridge. There is something very satisfying about watching a collection of GPS points on a computer screen turn into a real conservation solution - and then watching the exact same sloth who gave you those GPS points safely use it.
Science = Action!
When Data Meets Legislation
Martita's timing couldn't have been better. This month, Costa Rica approved new legislation requiring wildlife crossings to be incorporated into new infrastructure, with scientific evidence used to identify where those crossings are actually needed.
Meanwhile, our Connected Gardens team has been busy doing exactly this kind of work on the ground: planting native trees, installing new canopy bridges, maintaining existing crossings and surveying new areas where habitat connectivity is desperately needed.
Conservation In the Community
August was also a very busy month for our community and education teams. We relaunched the Kukula Environmental Club with local students (kukula means sloth in the local Indigenous language), held a composting workshop with children in the Bribri Indigenous Territory, continued supporting community-led reforestation in Kéköldi, and started working alongside new local initiatives focused on beach safety, cleaner public spaces and the Puerto Viejo community library.
We also launched the third edition of our Responsible Wild Sloth Watching: Scientific Foundations course for 27 new tour guides, and preparations are now well underway for the third International Sloth Festival.
Little by little, the network of people looking out for wildlife here keeps getting bigger!
Welcome, Elliott!
The Urban Sloth Project gained a rather adorable new resident this month, although his introduction to Team Sloth was slightly more dramatic than we would have liked. While the research team were out collecting field data, they noticed a young sloth who had fallen and somehow become trapped by his neck between the fronds of a palm tree about 15 meters up.
By the time we arrived, he was still struggling and clearly exhausted. Unfortunately, he had also managed to get himself stuck in an exceptionally inconvenient place. There were no safe trees to climb nearby, moving the palm fronds risked making things worse, and a normal ladder wasn't long enough.
So we lashed two ladders together, tentatively balanced them against the palm, and sent our expert tree climber Deyber up to perform what was probably one of our more nerve-racking rescues of the year. Thankfully, Deyber is extremely well trained at working safely at height. After some careful manoeuvring, he reached the little sloth and brought him safely back down.
A health check revealed no injuries. At just 0.9 kg, Elliott is around the age and size when young sloths begin becoming independent from their mothers. We suspect he had been trying to cross between two large trees when he slipped and had the spectacularly bad luck of landing with his neck between the palm fronds.
His age also makes him particularly interesting for our research into sloth weaning, dispersal and lifespan. So after making sure he was healthy, we fitted him with a tiny tracking collar and released him into a nearby cecropia tree on the same property.
And just like that, we have another little life to follow. Welcome to Team Sloth, Elliott. Please try to stay out of trouble. You can follow Elliott and the other Urban Sloths by joining the Sloth Fellowship.
Not All The News Was Good News
This month, the Orange County Sheriff's Office completed its investigation into Sloth World Orlando and concluded that it found no evidence of criminal neglect or other criminal activity following the deaths of 57 sloths.
We have read the full investigative report and quite frankly, its conclusion left us angry, frustrated and rather confused.
But it also reinforced something very important: if 57 sloths can suffer and die under these circumstances without existing laws providing a clear route to accountability, then the laws themselves need to change.
And there are reasons to keep going, because the case has now been referred to the State Attorney's Office, so the path towards accountability is not necessarily over. At the same time, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners has unanimously voted to begin developing a countywide ordinance that could prohibit the importation of exotic wildlife for commercial entertainment purposes.
There is also something much bigger happening behind the scenes.
I can't tell you about it quite yet. But very soon, we'll be sharing an important next step in this fight - and when we do, we're going to need you. All of you!
Until then, please keep talking about those 57 sloths. Keep sharing their story. Keep reminding people that what happened to them matters - and that we have an opportunity to make sure it never happens again.
Thank You!
Finally, thank you. Every donation, symbolic sloth adoption, Sloth Fellowship membership, social media share and lovely message you send us helps keep all of this moving forward… through tropical waves, flooded roads, complicated rescues, difficult fights and everything else the jungle throws at us. Thank you for being part of Team Sloth.
All the best from the jungle (where sloths belong),
