Sloth

Sloths are famous for their funny faces and slow movement, but how much did you know about them?

There are two different families of sloths: two-toed and three-toed. Two-toed sloths live in Central and South America, whereas three-toed sloths live mostly in Latin America.

Sloths get their name because of how slowly and how little they move. This is because they have a low metabolism and eat low energy foods, so they do not have the energy to climb around much.

They are so slow that algae grows on their fur! This is actually good as it helps sloths blend in the trees and provides nutrients.

Sloths don’t have very good sight or hearing so they mostly have to use smell and touch to find their food. Their diet mostly consists of leaves and insects but sometimes they eat fruit and small lizards. Baby sloths learn what to eat by licking their mum’s leaves when they are small!

Sloths are actually pretty good swimmers thanks to their long arms and can control their heartbeat, slowing it down so that they can hold their breath for 40 minutes.

One of the most dangerous activities for three-toed sloths is going to the toilet, which they do once a week. They need to climb down for the trees to do this, which them a target for predators on the floor.