Luiza Is Found, but Still Out of Reach | July 2026
As you know, Luiza’s tracking collar stopped transmitting much earlier than expected, leaving us without our usual way of locating our famously elusive canopy specialist.
Recently, we have experienced problems with several of our tracking collars. Although the manufacturer estimates a battery life of around two years, the batteries begin slowly discharging as soon as they leave the factory. By the time the collars travel to Costa Rica, clear customs, and are fitted onto a wild sloth, some of that valuable battery life has already been lost.
All hands on deck!
Reliable tracking technology is essential for long-term research, and we are determined to find a better solution. In the meantime, Team Sloth has been relying on good old-fashioned teamwork, plus a little help from above. After all, if four eyes are better than two, then twenty eyes and a thermal drone are definitely better!
This month, while tracking our other sloths, our team continued searching Luiza’s home range. After several attempts, the thermal drone finally detected her high in the canopy.
From ground level, spotting her would have been almost impossible, which shows just how valuable this technology can be when monitoring an especially well-camouflaged sloth.
Unfortunately, Luiza was resting around 35 metres, or approximately 115 feet, above the ground. At that height, we could not safely reach her to replace the collar.
Still waiting her to come down!
The good news is that, after following Luiza for so many years, we know her home range extremely well, including many of her favourite trees. For now, we simply need to keep watching and wait for the perfect opportunity, either when she moves lower in the canopy or when conditions allow our experienced climbing team to safely reach her.
Thank you for symbolically adopting Luiza and helping us continue this long-term research. Her tracking signal may have gone quiet, but thanks to your support, Team Sloth is still watching over her.
