January 2025 | Tales From The Jungle
January Felt Eternal – And It Was!
January always feels like the longest month, and this one was no exception – five whole weeks! But we are kicking off the year with some very good news: we have officially begun work on our dream headquarters in Costa Rica! This week, we received the final land measurements from the topographer, meaning we can now move forward with our plans.
This will be more than just an office – it will be a true home for Team Sloth, a place where we can work, collaborate, and continue protecting sloths and their rainforest habitat. After years of renting spaces and constantly having to move to keep up with rising costs, we can finally put down roots – creating a permanent base for our work and ensuring that more resources go toward conservation rather than rent.
The new HQ will include a forest nursery and a fully equipped research lab to support our conservation efforts. And nature has already given us the perfect spot! Two big trees recently fell, naturally opening up a clearing, allowing us to build without cutting anything down.
Of course, we have to be patient – paperwork takes time (especially in Costa Rica, where everything runs at sloth speed!), but every step brings us closer to making this dream a reality, and we couldn’t be more excited. A huge thank you to all the donors who made this possible – this wouldn’t be happening without you! Stay tuned for updates as we bring our new home to life!
Project Updates
The Great Sloth Census: Three new Sites!
The Great Sloth Census team has been hard at work, completing three new study sites this month. We covered 15,000 square meters using transects, measuring every tree, flying thermal imaging drones, and walking with Keysha, our wonderful sloth detection dog. And, of course, we counted sloths the old-fashioned way – with our eyes!
This long-awaited project is finally taking shape, and we can’t wait to share what we discover about sloth populations across different habitats!
Bye-Bye Sloths (For Now)!
In The Urban Sloth Project, we removed tracking collars from two sloths that have now provided us with valuable long-term data. But don’t worry – we are gearing up to collar more sloths, this time in pristine primary forests to compare how they fare in undisturbed habitats.
After nearly five years of tracking urban sloths, there is still so much to learn! Stay tuned for more updates as we expand our research into new territories.
Connected Gardens: Sloth vs. Monkey Showdowns!
This month, we:
- Installed 3 new Sloth Crossing canopy bridges
- Maintained 3 existing bridges
- Planted 196 trees across six large properties
And we witnessed two sloth-howler monkey encounters on our canopy bridges – just in time for our latest blog, Sloth vs. Howler Monkey!
With 340 Sloth Crossing wildlife bridges now installed, studying their effectiveness and impact is a top research priority. But gathering data isn’t easy…
In early January, we installed 12 new camera traps, generously donated by PhD researcher Caleb Jeavons, to monitor the usage of our wildlife bridges that cross a major highway.
Along with Masters student Renske from Wageningen University, we are working with us to understand how linear infrastructure (like roads) impact the behavior and movement of sloths. We now have a total of 28 camera traps installed on bridges!
A huge thanks to Caleb and to everyone who has sponsored a bridge or camera trap – your support makes this work possible!
Sloths Take Over the Big City!
A massive thank you to ABGmedios, a company specializing in large-format advertising in Costa Rica and Central America, for generously donating billboard space in San José’s metropolitan area to showcase our work!
Now, even city dwellers can’t miss the message: Sloths need trees, not traffic!
SALE ALERT! Up to 50% OFF in our Sloth Shop!
#SlothLoveMonth starts this weekend, and we have special promotions to celebrate love and sloths!
Get a 2025 Sloth Calendar + Scruffy Sloth Toy Combo for just $19.99! Only 40 combos available!
Find calendars and toys on sale at our shop!
Celebrating our 8th Birthday!
We kicked off 2025 in style by celebrating our 8th birthday on January 5th!
When I first started working with sloths over 16 years ago as a research student, I had no idea where the journey would take me. In 2017, I founded The Sloth Conservation Foundation, and Sarah, Cecilia, and Patricio were among the very first to join me. (Fun fact: Cecilia and Patricio are still with us today, leading all of our marketing and outreach efforts!)
Back then, we all lived in the same little cabin complex, where our first team meetings took place in tiny one-room apartments and where Patricio built our very first tree nursery in the backyard.
Technically, the hallways of those cabins were our first headquarters!
At the time, SloCo was just a passion project and we all had other jobs to support ourselves. More than once, we paid out of our own pockets just to keep things running. But hard work – and the unwavering support of people around the world – helped us grow. We still remember the names of our very first supporters who believed in us from the start: Quinn, Jeroen, Lee, and so many others.
And now, as we take steps toward building our own headquarters in the jungle (finally saying goodbye to renting and constantly moving) this milestone feels even more meaningful. These past 8 years have been an incredible journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful for everything we have achieved – and everything still to come!
THANK YOU for being part of this journey. Wishing you a February filled with sloths and love – for your partner, family, friends, and most importantly, yourself!
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe
Founder and Executive Director
