January 2024 | Tales From The Jungle
A New Year, New Goals!
As we welcomed 2024, the holiday season brought well-deserved breaks for part of our team. So, in true sloth style, we’ve started the year slowly but steadily. Let’s dive into the highlights of the first 31 days of this exciting new year!
New Adventures at La Selva
This month, our Urban Sloth Project team returned to La Selva Reserve and Biological Station to retrieve the GPS collars from sloths Selvina and George. These collars, fitted in June last year, were designed to open automatically after six months, eliminating the need to recapture the sloths.
We located Selvina’s collar on the ground, but George’s was challenging! Its signal led us to the canopy, and after a day and a half of searching the dense branches, we retrieved it using a long cane from about 23 feet (7 meters) high!
On a side note, we were also lucky to encounter an anteater over the bridge at La Selva!
Updates from the Urban Sloth Project
We’re excited to announce the addition of two and a half new members to the Urban Sloth Project: Suzi and Ginger, a charming three-fingered sloth mother-and-baby duo, and Tender, a two-fingered sloth who resides near a beach bar and cantina in the popular Cocles Beach of the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.
Tender’s mother, affectionately named ‘Tiki’ by the beach bar owners, is a local celebrity since she frequently delights the bar customers with her presence. To enhance Tiki’s mobility and safety, we installed a ‘Sloth Crossing’ in front of the bar back in the first International Sloth Fest in 2020, providing her a better way to navigate her territory, replacing her previous route along a line of bulb lights. Tender has been raised by a total urban sloth, so we can’t wait to discover how she explores and adapts to the area.
We also changed Luiza’s collar for a new one! This time, we found her alone, as her offspring, Nugget, is no longer a baby! Based on our latest observations, Nugget has grown into a small juvenile and is naturally exploring the area on her own, a normal phase of development marking her independence from Luiza.
New bridges and plantings
In January, we continued our work in the South Caribbean, spaying and neutering 10 rescued dogs, planting over 60 trees, and installing 8 Sloth Crossings! Speaking of sloth crossings, we received footage of howler monkeys using one of our canopy bridges!
You can view the map of all Sloth Crossings and tree plantings to grasp the scale of our growing project. This year, we aim to expand these projects to more areas in Costa Rica!
Keysha is back on track!
Another member of our team who had to take an (involuntary) ‘vacation’ was Keysha, diagnosed with heartworms a few months ago. This condition required extensive treatment and rest, confining Keysha to limited activity within her home.
We’re delighted to report that Keysha is now on the mend and gradually resuming her duties: she’s taking short walks to rebuild her stamina. Remarkably, on her first day back to work, Keysha shone in her tasks and located sloth poop – a significant achievement that underscores the depth and persistence of her training (which is an ongoing process!). Looking ahead, our goal for next month is to start with the transects for the Great Sloth Census!
Kokomo is back!
February marks the return of Kokomo, celebrating Sloth Love Month with facts, games, quizzes, and virtual gifts. Stay tuned for it on our social media channels!
SloCo Birthday!
On January 5th, we celebrated our 7th anniversary! Back in 2017, we embarked on this incredible journey to enhance research and conservation efforts for wild sloths, a journey fueled by hard work and the remarkable support of our community. We owe a heartfelt thanks to all our donors, sponsors, and supporters, who have helped us become a leading organization in sloth research and conservation. We always say that we couldn’t have done this without you, and we truly mean it. You are the heart and driving force behind The Sloth Conservation Foundation!
Once again, thank you for being with us as we step into another year. On behalf of myself and the entire team, we hope you’ve had a wonderful start to the year. Let’s make 2024 an exceptional year!
-Dr. Rebecca Cliffe
Founder and Executive Director
