Darcey, the Young Sloth Conservationist

Young people always talk about what they want to be when they are older. Maybe they want to be a journalist, a baker, a dentist, or even a boss of a huge company. There are so many options! 

I am Darcey; I am 13, live in the UK, and want to be a conservationist. I chose the Sloth Conservation Foundation to help because of the incredible video that I saw at the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Award exhibition in London in October 2023. I was truly inspired by the work that is done there. I am a keen wildlife photographer, and I love going every year I can with my mum and brother.

Inspiration from Nature and Heroes

Ever since I was really small, I have known that I want to work with animals. As I grow older, I’ve become aware of some of the terrible things that are happening to our planet, such as deforestation, water pollution, and poaching. 

I have also learned about incredible people like Sir David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg, Simon Reeve, and Steve Backshall, who work to bring all these things to light and teach us about what we can do to help. 

I know I want to be part of preserving and protecting all habitats on our planet and the animals who live on them – all across our beautiful but fragile world.

Small Contributions

I play my own small part in the fight for our planet by recycling, eating sustainably, saving water and electricity, cutting down on single-use plastic and minimising our car usage. 

When I get older, I hope to travel to places like the Elephant Orphanage in Africa, The Sloth Conservation Foundation in Costa Rica, and many other wonderful places to really help make a difference. 

How it all started

The first wildlife species that caught my attention was the Binturong, the black, furry mammal in the tropical rainforests of India, Bhutan, Malaysia, and China, famous for its popcorn-scented fur. This animal has been my favourite for as long as I can remember. The Binturong caught my attention because of its rarity, illusive nature, and how it is endangered due to deforestation. In the Binturong’s rainforest home, the forest is being cleared at an astonishing rate and replaced by farmland. In the last couple of years, I have been lucky enough to see Binturongs in zoos in the UK, but I still hope there will be some left in the wild for me to see when I am older. 

The Importance of Sloths

I love Sloths because of how cute they are, how they always look pleased with themselves, and how fascinating they are. There is always something new to learn about them, and just when you think that you know it all, another fact pops up, and you realise, oh wait, I didn’t know that. 

I think it is important to protect Sloths for later generations because of what they do for the rainforests. In their fur, there is a whole ecosystem living there. You may have seen images online of green Sloths and thought, why on Earth is that Sloth green?

Well, there are two reasons for that: Firstly, for camouflage. Obviously, we all know that Sloths are slow. So, they need some way to hide from predators. So they team up with moths and other insects who help them grow algae on their fur, to disguise them in the trees.

And that brings me to the second reason. In return, the sloths let all these insects live in their fur. That is so vital for the rainforest ecosystem.

-Darcey from the UK