Tender’s final update | January 2026

This is Tender’s final update - and it’s a sad one. Tender was not only part of the Urban Sloth Project, but he was also enrolled in a parallel long-term study called The Eternal Sloths, where we are investigating how long sloths live in the wild. Tender was the perfect candidate for this work as we knew exactly when he was born and we began monitoring him as a young juvenile, freshly separated from his mother, Tiki.

As many of you noticed, Tender has been MIA (missing in action) for several weeks. For most of his young life, he was exceptionally predictable… happily “hiding in plain sight” above a busy beach bar. But in December 2025, Tender decided that the time had come to leave home. For the first time, he ventured beyond the safety of his maternal home range and headed off alone.

This behaviour fits what we expect for male two-fingered sloths. As they reach sexual maturity, males disperse to establish themselves in new areas. However, almost nothing is known about how this process unfolds in fragmented urban landscapes. Tender was giving us a rare window into it.

Unfortunately for us, Tender’s chosen direction took him through a mosaic of private properties along the beach. His tracking collar eventually parked him inside the garden of a private residence. Despite multiple attempts - knocking on doors, requesting access, speaking with neighbours - the property owners refused to let our team enter. After several weeks of his collar transmitting from the same location, the signal abruptly stopped. We believe the collar may have been removed by the property owners, who were not receptive to our presence or our research.

This is the last photo we took of Tender

This is one of the difficult realities of studying wildlife in urban areas. Unlike sloths in remote forests, urban sloths live among people. They are visible, they cross private boundaries, and not everyone welcomes conservation work. Most of the time, people are curious and supportive. Sometimes all it takes is a conversation to turn scepticism into excitement. Conservation is, at its core, about people as much as wildlife.

But not always. Occasionally, no amount of dialogue helps. We have had people become aggressive, accuse us of spying, or threaten us for walking through neighbourhoods with antennas. We understand how strange it must look… a team quietly sweeping gardens with radio receivers and binoculars… but when someone refuses to engage, we have no choice but to change our plans for our own safety and for the welfare of the animals.

This is not the first time this has happened. A few years ago, we had a similar experience with a sloth called Nacho, who dispersed in the opposite direction toward downtown Puerto Viejo and took up residence among bars and restaurants. You can read his story here.

At the end of the day, every decision we make is guided by one principle: what is best for the sloths.

Although we are officially closing Tender’s chapter within the Urban Sloth Project, we are not giving up on him. We will continue to keep an eye out for him in the area, and we hope that one day we will be able to locate him again and confirm that he is safe. Until then, his story with us remains open-ended… just lived beyond the reach of our equipment.

What Tender Taught Us

Tender may have slipped beyond our ability to monitor him, but not before giving us extraordinarily valuable data. Over the past year, he helped us document the dispersal of a young male transitioning into adulthood, a phase of sloth life we know very little about. His data now joins the six years (and billions of data points) of the Urban Sloth Project. Our team is actively analysing the movement and behavioural data from all of the urban sloths, and Tender’s story will form an important piece of that puzzle.

Tender by Rona Neri

So, What Happens With My Adoption?

Tender was available for adoption because he was part of The Eternal Sloths, which meant we could guarantee ongoing updates about him. With Tender no longer locatable, we are unfortunately unable to continue providing those updates.

But don’t worry - a new sloth is waiting for you.

Meet Tender’s Little Brother: Tango

Your adoption subscription will be transferred to Tango, another adorable two-fingered sloth and one of Tiki’s most recent babies. You may have already seen Tango when he was just a tiny baby riding on Tiki’s belly: we mentioned Tango in our August update!

Tiki and Tango

You do not need to do anything -over the coming days, your adoption portal will update automatically. Using the same login, you’ll be able to access Tango’s portal, download his materials, view his GPS map (which currently has only a few points… he’s still very young!), and soon read his very first update. You’ll be tracking him from the very beginning of his life.

Tango’s biography is already available for you to read and download here:

If you have any questions about Tender or Tango, please reach out, we are always happy to hear from you.

Meet Tango!

Farewell, little Tender!

Thank you for walking this part of the journey with Tender, and for caring about him as deeply as we do. Saying goodbye to a wild animal we’ve followed for so long is never easy. But every sloth we monitor teaches us something that helps us protect many others in the future. As we turn our attention to Tango, we hope you enjoy getting to know him from the very beginning, and that his story brings you many moments of connection in the months ahead.