About Our Founder: Dr. Rebecca Cliffe
Born in 1990 in Preston, England, Dr. Rebecca Cliffe has dedicated her life to the study and conservation of one of the world’s most unique and vulnerable creatures: the sloth. Her journey into sloth conservation began during her bachelor’s degree in Zoology at the University of Manchester. At just 18 years old, she traveled to the jungles of Costa Rica on a one-way ticket as part of a 12-month research placement. It was here that Rebecca encountered her first sloth, and she became captivated by their biological quirks and extreme vulnerability.
Working at a wildlife rescue center, Rebecca witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by rainforest urbanization. Every day, sloths arrived in critical condition—electrocuted by power lines, attacked by packs of dogs, or bulldozed out of their trees. Baby sloths clung to their dead mothers, and this harsh reality left a lasting impression on her. Rebecca realized that while many organizations focused on rescuing sloths, little was being done to address the root causes of these tragedies in the wild. This realization sparked a fire in her and motivated her to dedicate her life to making a difference for sloths.
Driven by this, Rebecca moved full-time to the jungle and spent the next six years immersed in tracking wild sloths and collecting vital data.
Facing early funding challenges, she turned to crowdfunding, which enabled her to launch the longest-running study on wild sloth ecology—an ambitious project that continues to this day. The success of her crowdfunding campaign brought global attention to sloths, turning them into pop-culture icons. While this generated significant interest in their conservation, it also raised concerns about sloth exploitation, a complex issue that Rebecca and her team continue to address.
Her extensive research formed the basis of her PhD in Bioscience from Swansea University in 2017, titled Life in the Slow Lane. Rebecca’s scientific contributions have resulted in numerous publications on sloth ecology, biology, genetics, and physiology. Her work has revealed how sloths are uniquely affected by temperature fluctuations, climate change, and urbanization. Her research has provided critical insights into sloth behavior, genetic diversity, and survival in increasingly fragmented habitats, establishing her as a leading expert in sloth behavior and conservation.
In 2017, Rebecca founded The Sloth Conservation Foundation (SloCo), a registered charity dedicated to protecting sloths through research-driven conservation initiatives. Today, she resides in Costa Rica, where she leads SloCo’s field programs and works closely with local communities, landowners, and businesses to promote wildlife conservation. In 2020, she played a pivotal role in helping the Costa Rican government declare the sloth an official national symbol—a landmark achievement that has since provided greater protection and resources for sloth conservation.
Under Rebecca’s leadership, SloCo has become the world’s leading authority on sloth conservation. The foundation employs 10 full-time staff members in one of Costa Rica’s poorest provinces and has made remarkable progress. In 2022, Rebecca was awarded the prestigious Future For Nature award and used the €50,000 prize to train the world’s first scat detection dog for sloth population monitoring. She now spearheads the world’s first comprehensive sloth population census.
In 2024, Rebecca was honored with the title of Doctor of Science by Swansea University in recognition of her groundbreaking work in sloth research and conservation.
Beyond her scientific achievements, Rebecca is the author of the best-selling book Life in the Slow Lane, has appeared on major media outlets such as NBC’s Today show and 60 Minutes, and has inspired the children’s book The Adventures of Dr. Sloth, which tells the story of her extraordinary journey.
