How to Train Your Sloth

It was great going out for dinner with my good friend last night. We talked for hours, shared a bottle of wine, and just had a really fantastic catch-up. Then I got home late and my sloths were all waiting for me in the bedroom so I just had to put a movie on for them. We watched How to Train Your Dragon 2, which I’d seen when it was in cinemas, but was just as good on small screen. Seriously, if you’ve never seen the first one, you NEED to get on it. My favourite animated film of all time. That’s right, ahead of all Disney films even. slothdragon

Sloth Dragon by S. Watercolour

Bed to Myself

The boy’s gone away with with his other boys for the weekend. Sure, I’ll miss him, but I’m looking forward to some “me time” for the next couple of days. I’ll get the bed to myself! Well, apart from the other sixteen sloths who’ll be sharing it…dozy

What is the ideal habitat for a sloth?

In a study published last month in PLOS One by Mendes and colleagues, researchers examined the distribution of maned sloths in South America, and found that their habitat was restricted to the coastline of Brazil. journal.pone.0110929.g002This area is “between 0 and 2,349.86 m of altitude, with an annual temperature between 8.5 and 19.4°C, and an annual precipitation between 753.01 and 2,592.0 mm”. However, the amount of suitable habitat for the maned sloth may (worryingly) be lost in the coming years due to different factors such as deforestation.

Not only [should] conservation actions should be taken in the protected areas, but also they are dearly needed to restore and reconnect the surrounding habitats and other important ones where maned sloth is known.

If you would like to help in rainforest conservation and hence the maintenance of the maned sloth’s population, you can make a donation to the Amazon Conservation Association or the World Land Trust’s Atlantic Rainforest Projectbradypus_torquatus