Update #60 of The Urban Sloth Project!

This month, meet the adorable Elliott, who joined the Urban Sloth Project under some of the strangest circumstances our team has ever encountered. You’ll also find the latest news from our tracked sloths, including Luiza’s long-awaited return to the radar, plus another Q&A with Dr. Rebecca Cliffe!

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Luiza

After weeks of searching, we finally got the news we had been hoping for: Luiza was found, and her collar has been successfully replaced!

The team spotted Luiza high up in the canopy and knew they had to be patient. Rather than risk losing her by rushing the process, they settled in for the wait. Deck chairs were deployed, snacks were at the ready, and binoculars stayed firmly trained on the treetops as the team waited for Luiza to make her move.

And wait they did! After several hours, Luiza finally began making her way lower through the canopy, bringing her within reach of the team. The opportunity they had been waiting for had arrived, and the team was able to safely capture her and fit her with a brand-new tracking collar.

It might sound like a relaxing afternoon in the forest, but keeping watch on a sloth for hours takes plenty of patience and concentration, especially when that sloth is Luiza! Her impressive ability to disappear among the trees has certainly kept the team busy over the past few months.

With her new collar securely in place, Luiza is officially back on our tracking system. This means we can once again follow her movements and continue collecting valuable data about her life, habitat, and use of the forest.

After all the searching, waiting, and one very long afternoon in the deck chairs, we're delighted to have Luiza back on the radar!

Martita

We caught up with Martita on a sunny morning, spotting her around 9:30 a.m. in a Cecropia tree near the Indian restaurant Saika, the general area where she's made her home for the past six months. This was actually a first for us: we'd never seen her in this particular Cecropia before, though she was in good company, resting alongside another female.

Our team set up to wait her out, hoping she'd climb down to change her collar to one of our new models as part of our project-wide update of collars, but Martita had other plans.

She used the canopy bridge we installed for her to cross from the cecropia into a sangrillo tree, the same sangrillo where we almost always find her. Instead of coming down, though, she climbed up, settling in around 30 meters above the ground, well out of reach for data collection this time.

No new collar for Martita this month, but a great reminder of how she uses the connected canopy around Saika, and confirmation that she's still healthy and active.

Pati

During one of our recent tracking outings, the team received word that Pati had fallen from a tree and had been on the ground for around two days. When they reached him, they found him clinging to the stems of some low-growing plants, far from where we would normally expect to find him.

Pati looked weak and out of place, and after spending so long on the ground, the team decided it was safest to bring him to the rescue centre rather than leave him to fend for himself. It was important that he could be properly assessed and given the care and monitoring he needed.

Thankfully, Pati has been eating leaves since arriving at the centre and seems to be doing well. He is in good hands and being closely monitored, and we are hoping for a swift recovery so he can return to his usual sloth self and, when ready, be released back into the wild.

Pistachio

Pistachio has been giving the team a run for their money this month. As many of you know, we've been trying to catch up with him for a while now to remove his collar, since he's already given us all the data we need from it. Antenna in hand and rubber boots on, the team set out determined to track him down, but his signal had other plans, at one point even suggesting he'd crossed the busy road entirely and was perched high in a tree on the opposite side. A wild goose chase, sloth-style.

We did eventually catch up with him, resting in a palm tree between Caribbeans and Tasty Waves, though it took some patient observation to confirm his collar and be sure it was really him. He was high up and out of reach for a capture this time, so the collar removal will have to wait. We'll be back on his trail again next month.

Debbie

We have a bit of an update to share about Debbie and her baby, Kiwi. As soon as the team stepped out of the car this month, Debbie was easy to spot, high up in one of her favorite trees, but this time, alone. Despite much searching, there was no sign of Kiwi anywhere nearby. All subsequent visits during the month revealed Debbie by herself.

While we can't say for certain where Kiwi has gone, we believe they’ve simply reached the age where young sloths begin to gain their independence and wean off their mothers, so this is a milestone moment rather than a cause for concern. The team will be keeping a close eye on the area in hopes of spotting Kiwi again soon, with the goal of fitting her with her own collar in the coming weeks.

As for Debbie, she's moving forward with life on her own again, without Kiwi by her side.

Franklin

Wandering the black volcanic sands of Playa Negra, we can always rely upon Franklin to provide us with a clear appearance. In this instance, he was nestled approximately 10 meters off the ground, curled up peacefully as the sounds of the sea lulled him to sleep.

With the sun coming out from behind the clouds, Franklin would however soon rise from his slumber. Stirring in the golden afternoon light, he seemed to welcome the respite of the warm sunshine after the stormy night Puerto Viejo had just endured.

Nigel

Nigel has kept us on our toes lately, but we’re happy to report that the team finally got the opportunity they had been waiting for: His collar has been successfully replaced!

After an earlier attempt came up short, the team had to wait for the right moment to safely reach Nigel. Thankfully, patience paid off, and on a later visit they were able to get close enough to carry out the collar change.

With a new and improved collar now in place, we can reliably monitor Nigel’s movements and reduce the risk of technical issues interrupting his tracking. This means we can keep following his movements more consistently and, most importantly, continue collecting the valuable data that helps us understand his life in the wild.

Christina

Christina, our reigning hide-and-seek champion, decided to bless us with a rare sighting this month. Usually it takes a long, careful stare into the canopy just to make out her small, football-sized body, but this time she chose a wonderfully exposed branch, laying her back against it so her silhouette stood out clearly against the bright August sky.

She looked perfectly at ease, lazing in the intermittent sun with her belly turned up and not a care in the world. As we say here in Costa Rica: Pura Vida!

Daffodil

A trickier month for Daffodil. Early on, we ran into some antenna trouble, as the signal kept swinging between strong and weak, and we couldn't tell whether it was a battery issue or an equipment glitch. It kept us from pinning down her location on our first attempt.

The following day made up for it: on a typical hot, humid, and cloudy day, we spotted her quickly and easily in a beach almond tree. While collecting her data, we also came across six other brown-throated sloths in a nearby cecropia tree, a sign of what we already know- the high density of sloths that are supported by this coastal forest habitat.

Towards the end of the month, the antenna played up again and we weren't able to relocate her that day. All part of the ebb and flow of tracking a wild, free-roaming animal!

Bruce

Last month, Bruce was really leaning into the urban lifestyle. At one point we even found him nestled right above a public light, about as "city sloth" as it gets. This month, though, he's had a change of heart and moved away from that urban area, exploring more of the beach side of his habitat instead. He's currently hanging out in a noni tree about 6 meters up, trading streetlights for sea bree

Bob

Bob kept the team busy this month, on the move between a few favorite spots. His central cecropia tree remains his true home base. It's where he feeds, catches sun rays, socializes with females of his species, and shares space with howler monkeys and other primates, making it a real hub of activity in his territory.

Tracking him wasn't always straightforward: on one especially humid day, the signal briefly pointed us toward what seemed like a different sloth entirely, and with no antenna visible, it took some extra searching before we located him high up in that same familiar tree. The detour came with a nice bonus, though - a grey hawk (Buteo plagiatus) sharing the tree with him, a less common sighting than the raptors we usually see in the area.

Meet Elliott!

We'd like to introduce Elliott, the newest addition to our urban sloth project. Elliott joined us under dramatic circumstances. Our team got word from a member of the community about a small sloth that had fallen and gotten its neck caught in the fronds of a palm tree. By the time we arrived, he was still struggling but clearly exhausted, and it was obvious we needed to act fast.

After ruling out riskier options, the team secured two ladders together to reach him, about 15 meters up. He was carefully freed and brought down for a health check, which found no injuries. At 0.9 kilograms, he was right in the weight range where young sloths are becoming independent from their mothers- old enough to be fitted with a collar, so we took the opportunity to do just that.

Elliott was released not back into the palm tree, but nearby in a cecropia tree on the same property, giving him a safer spot to settle into. We're excited to start following his journey. Welcome to the project, Elliott!

Primary Forest Sloths

Pipa

Pipa has found herself quite the cozy spot this month: a natural "treehouse" of leaves that looks almost purpose-built for her, tucked away and fully camouflaged. From inside, she stays sheltered from the rain but can still step out into the sun whenever she likes. It's easily become one of her favorite hideaways.

We also logged a new tree for her this month: a massive one, about 40 meters high, though she keeps to the lower and middle sections rather than climbing to the top. It seems some routine tree-trimming work by ICE (the Costa Rican Electricity Institute) near her usual roadside spot, to avoid branches reaching cables, spooked her away from the road and made her move into this new area. On another visit, we found her in a different long-time favorite tree, tucked deep among the lianas and vines. This is her go-to spot whenever she'd rather not be disturbed.

Flash

Flash has settled into a new tree quite close to the road, a sign that he may be drifting away from the area where we originally collared him.

We're keeping a close watch and hoping he doesn't decide to cross to the other side. Getting the antenna to pick up the collar signal properly is never straightforward in the dense primary forest: On one visit, the signal actually led us back toward an area he'd used weeks earlier, closer to the road, before we finally tracked him down in a familiar, smaller tree he's used before.

Flash also seems to have a soft spot for our coordinator Jose. When Jose isn't around, he tends to hide more and blend into the canopy, and the team has had days of picking up a strong, steady signal without ever laying eyes on him. Other days, he's made it easy, turning up within five minutes of tracking, rain or shine. All in all, a good reminder of just how much personality each of our sloths brings to the work.