Sloths have a reputation for being slow and lazy. Yet very little is known about the lives they lead. “I realised there wasn’t enough scientific data related to sloths and this impacted our ability to conserve them and care for them,” Rebecca Cliffe says. She’s the founder and director of The Sloth Conservation Foundation, an organisation dedicated to protecting sloths in their natural habitat in Costa Rica.
As they can’t run or jump, sloths rely on trees that are in close proximity to each other and interconnecting branches in order to make their way through the canopies. The mammals are therefore sensitive to disturbances in their environment, particularly houses and roads that run through the forest. When they can’t move from tree to tree, sloths will instead use alternative structures such as power lines to travel, getting electrocuted in the process.
To prevent this, Cliffe and her team are working to insulate power lines and build wildlife bridges for sloths to journey safely. Beyond their invaluable contribution to the sloths’ habitat, Cliffe’s team is also encouraging local communities to learn about sloths and play a part in conserving them. “They’ve been around for 64 million years, so there’s so much more to discover,” Cliffe says. “Never give up on the sloths because the world would be a much more miserable place without the most peaceful, relaxed animals.”