A sloth that hangs from high branches in tropical forests, feeding and resting in the trees.
Long curved claws hook around branches, supporting it even in an upside-down posture.
Linnaeus’s Two-toed Sloths grip branches with curved claws and spend much of their lives in trees. Leaves, shoots and fruit pass slowly through the digestive system; limited movement conserves energy.
A 2021 Smithsonian account described changing branch routes for Athena and Vlad to encourage exploration. The two animals preferred high, dark resting places.
Keepers used preferred foods during training to check teeth, movement and behaviour. In the wild, logging and capture for the pet trade threaten sloths and their forest habitat.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Logging, hunting for meat and capture for the pet trade are threats. Protecting tropical forest safeguards the trees used for feeding and resting.