Sloth Crossings Community Update! 2021 Highlights
What an amazing year we had! When we started this project we had no idea that we’d be installing more than 100 bridges… and in a few weeks, we’ll hit sloth crossing number 150!
Tracking Diaries #6: Dear Santa
“Dear Santa, This year I have been extremely very mostly good, and for Christmas, I would really like for a sloth to go poop.”
Meet the Urban Sloths!
The Urban Sloth Project is our latest scientific research project concerning sloth ecology, studying how habitat urbanization is impacting sloth health and behavior. For the next five years, we’ll be monitoring 32 wild sloths: 16 three-fingered and 16 two-fingered sloths.
Tales from the Jungle: December updates!
Happy December everyone! Wait, how is it December already?The final months of the year sneak up on us here in the South Caribbean. We don’t have the seasonal markers that signal this time of year in temperate climes—there are no autumn leaves, first frosts, or snowfall. We do get extra tourists, choppy seas, and sometimes plagues of various bugs, but that’s not really the same thing.
Sloth versus Anteater
In this episode of “sloths vs” we are taking a look at another member of the Xenarthra; the anteater. Anteaters are in fact the sloth’s closest living relative, though by “close” we don’t actually mean very close.
Sloth Versus Jaguar
The humble sloth vs the mighty jaguar, how do these two mysterious mammals compare?
What do sloths give to humanity?
To measure a species only by the benefit it brings to human civilization is to take a very narrow view of the magnificence of life on Earth. Every organism has an important role to play in its own ecosystem, and if we are humble enough to receive their gifts, sloths have so much to give us.
Why did the wildlife cross the road?
To expand into new territories and look for mates or food. It isn’t hard to imagine why animals need to move around, but when you work in conservation, the more interesting question is: how?
Oh, the places you'll go! Tracking Diaries #5
“Oh great,” says Dr. Cliffe. “I have poop in my boot.”
“Don’t you mean ON your boot?” says Amelia, using a machete to get through a two-meter-long spider web.
“Nope,” says Dr. Cliffe. “It’s dribbled down. And it belongs to someone else.”
This is Sloth Tracking: a Spooky Poem
Boys and girls of every age, Wouldn’t you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see, Some weird things out while sloth tracking!
Tales From the Jungle: Slothober
What a wild month we’ve had! We got it through Slothtober with flying colors and even hosted the first-ever International Sloth Festival— if you didn’t manage to join us in person or online, check out our social media for details, pictures, and some great art.
Arislothl & Slothocles: Taking Things Philosophically
GREAT excitement has followed my discovery, in an attic clean-out at Beachcomber Towers, of a manuscript believed lost for more than 2,000 years. Written by the ancient Greek philosopher Arislothl, it is nothing less than a complete version of his legendary masterpiece Lethargics outlining his highly influential views on the merits of nothingness.
Sloth versus Snow Leopard
The sloth and the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) seem like two animals that have absolutely nothing in common. After all, they live on opposite sides of the planet from each other, prefer habitats that couldn’t be more different without being under water, and one is a small herbivore that eats leaves while the other is a large predator that eats whatever it wants.
Mylodon Giant Sloth, opportunistic omnivore?
Sloths these days are small, tree-dwelling animals that live high up in the rainforest canopy and do a good imitation of the plants they eat. They’re slow, they’re green, and they can’t jump—but a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests their ancestors weren’t the strict vegetarians their reputation would have us believe.
1st International Sloth Fest!
International Sloth Day has been celebrated since 2010, helping to raise awareness about sloths, wildlife conservation, and the importance of taking it easy. International Sloth Day on October 20th, is a holiday dedicated to raising awareness about the planet’s slowest mammals and the threats they are facing.
Sloth Versus Koala
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.
Tracking Diaries #4: Questioning Assumptions
“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.
Conservation and Mental Health. Tracking Diaries #3
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.