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Linne's Two-Toed Sloth
Paignton Zoo is home to two Linne’s two-toed sloths: a male called Mo and a female called Ria. You can find our sloths hanging out in their home at the end of the Tropical Trails exhibit.
This tree-dwelling mammal is also known as the southern two-toed sloth, unau, or Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth.
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Pilosa
Family:
Choloepodidae
About the Linne's two-toed sloth
These sweet-natured sloths are native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America.
Famous for their laid-back lifestyle, sloths spend almost all of their time in the trees, even feeding, sleeping, and giving birth at height. They only come down to the ground to go to the toilet (once per week!) or move to a new tree.
The curved claws of a sloth allow them to hang safely from branches without using too much energy. This is just as well, as their leaf based diet and extremely slow digestion means that they literally don’t have the energy to do anything at speed.
Conservation
Linne’s two-toed sloths are currently listed as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. However, their numbers are rapidly declining in the wild due to habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade.