Update #62 of The Urban Sloth Project!
This month began with a triumphant homecoming for Tango, and it also brought a heartfelt goodbye to Pistachio, a collar saga with a happy ending for Flash and a long-awaited recapture of Pipa. Here’s the full report on our tracked sloths.
Tango
Tango was rescued back in February, and for those of you following along, you know it has been a long eight months of recovery at the rescue centre.
His progress was slow, and at times we worried he wouldn’t make it, but he never gave up fighting. This month, he finally went home.
We returned him to the very spot where we found him, and we are so happy that he is back in the wild. There is just one small change in Tango’s life: he is no longer part of our project. The reason is a scientific one. Because Tango had to be taken into care and spent eight months away from the forest, we can no longer follow him as part of our research. In our data, he officially counts as a mortality. If we hadn’t intervened and nature had taken its course, this sloth would be dead, so continuing to collect his data would not represent reality.
But Tango is very much alive. He is simply living his life in the trees again, and we will be keeping an eye on him to make sure he stays out of trouble!
Martita
Since fitting Martita with her new collar last month, we’ve caught up with her a few times. She’s usually quite elusive, but we confirmed she was spending time in her usual area, which sadly sits on private property, so it has been difficult to look for her properly.
On our most recent attempt, though, her signal led us further back from the road than she normally goes, to a spot hidden in tall trees and dense vegetation. Who knows what Martita is up to? Perhaps she just fancied a change of scenery!
Christina
Christina has been exploring a new part of her territory this month, though still close to where we first met her. One thing hasn’t changed: she loves being up high. We regularly find her many meters above the ground, resting quietly and perfectly content with her elevated lifestyle.
One monitoring session brought a lovely surprise though. We found Christina, and in a neighbouring tree, another female was carrying a newborn baby! It was wonderful to see how much life this stretch of coastal forest supports, and to witness a new generation beginning its journey just a few branches away. Seeing that tiny newborn made us think of Mikah, who we weren’t able to get our eyes on this month either. It seems they are living their life fully independently now, just like all the little ones before them, and we hope they’re doing well out there. Christina isn’t always easy to spot, but every sighting helps us build a better picture of how she uses her habitat.
Daffodil
Daffodil has stayed close to the beach, soaking up the rays and enjoying the sea breeze. She is a beautiful sight when she emerges from her usual leafy camouflage. This month we even found her sharing a tree with her neighbour and fellow tracked sloth, Bob. The two seem to be keeping close company!
Bob
Bob has made it back to the beach and out of the restaurant! Tracking him wasn’t straightforward this month though. We picked up strong signals but struggled to spot him in the canopy. When we finally found him, he was fast asleep on a lazy Sunday, hanging out near Daffodil.
Pistachio
This month marked the end of Pistachio’s tracking journey with us. After keeping us waiting for so long, he finally gave us the opportunity we’d been hoping for: a chance to capture him and remove his collar for good.
We found him moving between his favourite palm trees, and this time he ventured low enough for our climber to bring him down safely. It was a wonderful chance to see him up close and thank him for his hard work on the Urban Sloth Project. His collar was removed and his microchip inserted, and he stayed cooperative throughout, despite the famously feisty nature of our two-fingered sloths.
Afterwards he was released into one of his favourite trees, a sangrillo draped in vines, with the perfect spot to camouflage himself and enjoy a well-deserved rest. The team watched Pistachio climb his tree for the last time and said a heartfelt goodbye.
Pistachio, thank you for 22 months of valuable contributions to our research. You will be missed.
Pistachio, climbing away into the sunset.
Debbie
Debbie has been keeping a low profile this month. She had the team wondering what she was up to!
On a windy day, she was found moving up and down the tree, exploring all possible spots to seemingly shelter from the wind. Eventually she settled into a cosy V-shaped fork and took a lovely nap among the leaves.
We’re keeping a close eye on Debbie in the hope of replacing her tracking collar. That would also give us a chance to check her physical condition and see whether there’s a possibility of another pregnancy... For now, she’s enjoying her familiar beach territory.
Luiza
This month, Luiza has been keeping us on our toes! We’ve been actively searching for her, but she remains incredibly well hidden among the dense lianas. We suspect she may have already given birth and is staying out of sight with her baby, although we haven’t been able to confirm it yet.
We’ve searched intensively with drones and binoculars, spotting plenty of monkeys, toucans, and even a few male Bradypus sloths along the way, but Luiza continues to outsmart us!
Sloth mothers are known for keeping their babies close, and the dense vegetation provides excellent camouflage and protection. Perhaps Luiza has found the perfect little nursery in the canopy…
For now, the mystery continues, and so does our search. We’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Luiza and, fingers crossed, a tiny baby soon!
A typical Luiza photo: Just a face hidden away deep in the leaves…
Primary Forest Sloths
Flash
Flashes’ collar saga finally has a happy ending! After another month of repeated search attempts, we were struggling to track him down in the thick forest without his radio signal. We searched all his favourite areas, as well as places he might have wandered into, carrying out line transect surveys with binoculars and scanning the canopy with our thermal drone. Our research team could sense he was nearby, but we could only hope for a signal or clue from him.
Thankfully, our persistence paid off. We located him, fitted a brand-new collar, and carried out a health check. He’s now weighing in at a healthy 3.83 kg. Since then, we’ve spotted him high in the trees in his new favourite area. With his collar back up and running, keeping tabs on him should be a little less of a challenge!
Silver
Silver may be new to our tracking family, but he’s already showing plenty of character. He’s exploring new trees in his area and practising his camouflage, much like his nearby sloth buddy Flash. He’s still small, which gives him a talent for blending into vines and leaves and disappearing into the canopy. On a couple of tracking outings his collar signal came through strong, so we knew he was close. On one sighting, he was described as “an almost imperceptible ball.” Let’s hope for more sightings and great pictures of our little guy next month!
Silver, choosing to sit in a bush full of thorns!
Pipa
Pipa was our recapture goal this month, but she mostly stayed buried deep in winding vines and leaves. On one visit we suspected she might be carrying a baby, which got everyone very excited. Sadly, a closer look with the drone the next day confirmed otherwise, much to our disappointment.
Between those two visits, she had moved down into a smaller tree, which would give us an opportunity to carry out a recollaring. After a lot of waiting and persuasion, our excellent team got her safely down to the forest floor, where we could see her in all her sloth glory. She looked very healthy, now weighing a whopping 5 kg, a whole 3 kg heavier than when we last weighed her in February 2025. She has clearly been busy eating those leaves!
Pipa gave us moth and fecal samples, which will help us keep expanding our knowledge of all things sloth. Her new tracking collar and microchip were fitted, and she was released near her usual home. She stayed around for a while, posing for the camera, before swiftly climbing back up the tree to continue her relaxing sloth life.
Out of Action Sloths
Bruce and Patty
Bruce and Patty are both recovering at the rescue centre, and next week they will be assessed to see whether they’re ready to be released. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for both of them!
We hope you enjoyed the adventures of our project sloths this month. Your monthly supports makes all of this possible. Thank you, for making a better world for sloths.
