April 2024 | Tales From The Jungle
Back to the wild: Monitoring rescued sloths
Sloths in the wild learn everything from their mother: where to sleep, what to eat, and even when it’s time to climb down the tree to defecate. In Costa Rica, a significant number of sloths admitted to rescue centers are orphaned, some of them being sometimes just a few weeks old.
So, how does it work when professional humans raise and release them into the wild once the sloths become juveniles? What is the rate of success of these reintroductions? Unfortunately, for rescue centers focused on rehabilitation and veterinary care, post-release monitoring is not an option due to limited staff, equipment, or funds.
For years, rescue centers received sloths from distant places of the country, but released them in nearby areas. In 2020 we published groundbreaking research about the genetics of sloths from different regions throughout Costa Rica and how the translocations of rescued individuals have impacted the genetics of wild populations.
After our findings, we suggested to authorities that rescue facilities should consider the genetic background of rehabilitated sloths when planning future reintroductions. Sloths should be released in the areas where they originated from whenever possible.
Toucan Rescue Ranch is one of the most important rescue centers in Costa Rica, and they receive wildlife from many areas of the country. We started collaborating with them regarding the sloths they receive from the South Caribbean, our work area. Once the sloths are ready to be returned to the wild and released here, we’ll be monitoring them to learn how they adapt. This is important to know in order to improve the rehabilitation and husbandry methods for sloths.
A New Start For Caribbean Sloths
We started the post-release monitoring program with the adorable Angel, who was found on the beach, very young, losing her hair, and having a problem with one of her eyes. After almost a year in rehabilitation, Angel was released in February next to a jungle river mouth on a beach here in the South Caribbean.
We monitored her for three months and she adapted to life in the wild perfectly. Yesterday, we removed the tracking collar for the final time! Farewell Angel!
Today, we are helping to release and monitor another sloth rescued by the Toucan Rescue Ranch – the little Buddha, a sloth with a chill personality.
She was found near our town as an orphaned baby on a barbed wire fence with some scratches and minor injuries. Stay tuned on our social media for updates about Buddha!
Meeting with ICE
Installing a canopy bridge over roads and streets requires coordination with ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad), the country’s electrical company. Since power lines run along roads, the power has to be cut off so that we and the ICE workers can install any bridge above them in a safe way. This means an entire neighborhood will have no electricity for at least one hour, so ICE also has to communicate this to the community several days in advance. It involves a lot of logistics!
We met with ICE authorities and presented over 30 new points along the main road in the South Caribbean, places where sloths and other wildlife have been seen crossing the road, using the power lines, or getting electrocuted. There are many details to consider, like the gap between trees, the type and age of trees, etc. Although we have collaborated with ICE in the past and installed several bridges over the road already, we hope to start installing some of these new ones in the near future!
April was a wonderful month for many reasons.
We received support from many champions, like Nick, who ran the famous London Marathon in a sloth costume to raise funds, or the incredible Auron, who committed to walking three extra miles every day during April for Autism Awareness Month to fundraise for sloths.
We also started the process of hiring new staff for our Connected Gardens and Sloth Crossing projects, as we aim to expand not only the number of trees planted and bridges installed, but also to work deeper with local communities in the province of Limon.
Thank you once again for your support which makes it possible to us to study and protect sloths in the wild, whether through your fundraisers, by adopting a sloth, donating, enjoying the content on our social media, or spreading the word around. See you in the next update!
All the best from the jungle,
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe
Founder and Executive Director
