11.1 Urbanization
Sloths are creatures of habit. They do not have the ability to change their behavior in response to humans suddenly disturbing their habitat. When roads, power lines, and fruit plantations break up the continuous rainforest canopy that they rely on, sloths simply have nowhere left to go.
Roads, farms, towns, and cities now dominate the landscape, cutting the once continuous forest into smaller and more isolated segments. There is no way to escape the fact that one or two acres of rainforest land are cleared every single second. Due to their highly specialized lifestyle, sloths do not adapt well to such rapid environmental change.
When forests give way to towns, sloths sometimes try to stay around. One research project in the South Caribbean is studying how sloths adapt to urban environments and if humans and sloths can learn to live side by side in the same area.
11.2 Sloth Myths and misinformation
Since sloths are very mysterious creatures with an odd appearance, this has led to a number of myths around them, both locally and abroad.
Stigmas that sloths carry contagious diseases, or that they are inept or stupid, can make them vulnerable to cruelty and mistreatment. Education is key to eliminating these myths so that sloths and humans can successfully coexist.
One long-standing myth comes from Douglas Adams: “Sloths are so stupid that they mistake their own arm for a tree branch and, grabbing it, fall”. Check out the following article for where this came from:
11.3 Sloth Pets and Captivity
Sloths make very poor pets. Their body language is different from most domesticated animals, making it difficult for humans to tell when a sloth is unhealthy or unhappy, and they are such mysterious creatures that even scientists are only beginning to understand what sloths need to survive and thrive.
The sad reality is that sloths sold as pets usually come from the wild. Even if the baby sloth was born in captivity, it is more than likely that the parents would have been taken from the wild several years earlier. Sloths are very slow to reproduce and as a result, the demand from the international pet trade is putting some wild populations at risk.
Once taken from their mother, it is very difficult to rehabilitate a baby sloth back to the wild. Sloths learn what to eat and inherit their feeding tree preferences from their mothers, which is one of the reasons why releasing hand-reared sloths into the wild is particularly difficult.
Even though they’re very adorable, do not buy a baby sloth as a pet, and do not patronize organizations that encourage people to hold and pet them! These organizations might mean well, but they do not understand sloths enough to provide for their welfare.
11.4 Research and Rescue
Thankfully, there are multiple organizations working tirelessly to ensure that all six sloth species will be around for generations to come. Rescue centers throughout South and Central America are taking in injured and orphaned sloths, carefully rehabilitating individuals, and learning how to return them safely to the wild.
Researchers from the Sloth Conservation Foundation are using genetic analysis to determine the exact cause of the many observed birth defects, to identify the populations most at risk of inbreeding and extinction, and to plant trees to increase habitat connectivity in the most vulnerable areas.
Rope bridges are being constructed across roads to reduce sloth traffic collisions and conservation groups are working with electricity companies to reduce the number of sloths falling victim to the power lines.
