Tales from the Jungle: December updates!
Happy December everyone! Wait, how is it December already?
The final months of the year sneak up on us here in the South Caribbean. We don’t have the seasonal markers that signal this time of year in temperate climes—there are no autumn leaves, first frosts, or snowfall. We do get extra tourists, choppy seas, and sometimes plagues of various bugs, but that’s not really the same thing.
Anyway, let’s talk about November because it was a smashing success! We exceeded our expectations in a big way on Giving Tuesday! Wow, thank you!
As you well know, November and December are the months that determine our annual budget, and more than %85 of that budget comes from our donors. Most conservation organizations rely on grants, government assistance, leases, or big donations from large philanthropic organizations.
We at SloCo are funded by you. We are very proud to have such amazing support and to help bring your vision of a better world to life.
Bluetooth(less) Backpacks
SloCo has been supporting the latest research by Professor Gastón Giné and Instituto Tamanduá from Brazil, on the maned sloths that live in the coastal rainforest down there. To this end, SloCo donated 10 specialized GPS sloth backpacks (different from the ones we use in the Urban Sloth Project), that are custom made by a company in Mexico.
They are very expensive ($1,000 each!), and you can probably imagine our trepidation at letting $10,000 worth of equipment go climbing around the rainforest canopy, but that is the only way to get the data we need to see if the maned sloth is as endangered as we think it is.
Much to the dismay of Professor Gaston Giné, in charge of the research, the Bluetooth malfunctioned and the data was unretrievable from the backpacks, which had to be sent all the way back to Mexico for retrieval and repair. Oops!
Swamp Tree Trimming
Our Urban Sloth named Croissant moved to a new territory recently to escape some construction and power lines that went up in her old territory, and we are unhappy to report that there has been some new deforestation in her swamp. (Remember Arse End Swamp? That one.) The most infuriating part is that we don’t even know why anyone cut down those trees, since it’s not like they can build anything in the muck!
ICE Meeting
This month we finally got a meeting with the Costa Rican electric company, ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad), to discuss a new contract to insulate the power lines and transformers in our area, build necessary wildlife bridges over the power lines, and work on awareness campaigns to prevent electrocutions.
For the past 18 months, much work on power line safety has been put on hold due to the Covid pandemic, lockdowns, staff shortages, and general chaos of 2020 (and most of 2021). It took us several months to coordinate this meeting with the regional ICE chief, present our database of electrocuted animals, and prepare a hot spot analysis showing which lines and transformers are posing the greatest risk. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be signing the new contract in February of 2022! Fingers crossed!
Need some green gift ideas?
Get a gift for the sloth lover in your life! Here are some of our recommendations to not only make a sloth lover happy, but also make actual wild sloths happy!
Order a physical adoption today and receive it in time just for Christmas!
The adoption includes:
- A copy of the stunningly beautiful coffee table book “Sloths: Life in the Slow Lane’
- A printed biography of your chosen sloth
- A photo of your chosen sloth
- A personalized adoption certificate
Adopt a Sloth today!
If your loved one needs a gift that keeps on giving the whole year long, consider making them a Very Important Partner of our Urban Sloth Project! VIP members receive monthly updates on the sloths we’re monitoring for our Urban Sloth Project.
Delivered straight to your inbox (so as to save on trees), this includes biographies, photos, access to exclusive Q&A sessions, illustrations, and exclusive updates from our team in the field. Find out all about the latest adventures of our beloved Urbans Sloths: Mango, Nacho, Croissant, Baguette, Alan, and Arthur!
Join the VIP community!
