September 26th is ‘Save the Koala Day’ and here at the Sloth Conservation Foundation we want to celebrate by sharing some of the differences and similarities between these marvelous marsupials and our beloved sloths.

“I don’t even know what’s real anymore!” Amanda wails. We are tracking a sloth named Alan through the Cacao Forest, which I am thinking of renaming the Fairy Forest, because the lack of visibility and the way the radio signals bounce around is truly otherworldly. Also, the Bermuda Triangle is already taken.

They say that looking at trees can improve your mood. Merely being in the presence of these grand monuments of nature is credited with boosting the immune system, lowering blood pressure, lowering stress, accelerating recovery from injury, even increasing altruistic tendencies and curing ADHD.

Team Sloth contacted Jorge Carballo, the man responsible for the idea to declare sloths the national symbol for Costa Rica. Jorge grew surrounded by lush tropical forests and is passionate about nature.

Building bridges in Tortuguero was an important milestone for the Sloth Crossing team because it was the first time we installed the bridges all by ourselves. Before that, we used to hire climbers from outside the organization. This made bridge building a bit complicated since we had to depend on their availability.

July is always an eventful month for Team Sloth, but we weren’t prepared for what was lurking around the corner this year! Things got off to a good start as we celebrated an important symbolic achievement and a huge milestone for one of our projects.

I cling to a chain-link fence, the strap of the radio receiver clenched between my teeth as I climb sideways over an open ditch. It is clear from the smell that the local neighborhood has not gotten on board with the whole septic system plan.

National symbols are culturally created images to represent the country and preserve collective memories about these icons. Usually, these symbols include national anthems, flags, shields, animals, flowers, trees, national dishes, and languages.

June has been an emotional rollercoaster for Team Sloth. We sadly witnessed some of the most cruel, greedy, and reckless sides of humanity, but we also managed to achieve some fantastic breakthroughs for sloth conservation.

“Oh my gosh,” says my boss, holding the binoculars to her face. “I think Croissant is a boy.” I take my eyes off the beeping box attached to our portable radio antenna and peer into the trees, trying to find the small, tan-colored sloth amongst the palm fronts and tree bark. Boy or girl, I personally think Croissant might actually be a coconut, but I defer to Amelia’s experience.

Last year Team Sloth were thrilled to receive an invite to visit the Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica.  Tortuguero is renowned as one of the most important turtle nesting sites in the whole world, and in particular, its white sand beaches are a haven for endangered green sea turtles. 

Certain wild animals, such as our sweet sloths, are slow-moving and would not be able to hide quickly. They are no match for a fast-running dog. It is not the dog’s fault that they have this instinct, but it is entirely up to us as pet owners to ensure that our dogs are trained well and learn not to attack wildlife.

Team Sloth have been the opposite of slothful this month – we have been chasing invisible sloths through the jungle, carrying out emergency surgeries, castrating dogs and we were shamefully outsmarted by a herd of hungry goats. Read on below to learn about our biggest successes and failures this month!