Finally at the top of the ladder, mom and I are at the same height. I look at her, she looks at me knowing I have her baby she reaches over and climbs closer. I stretch my arm out as far as it will go whispering, “please take him, please take him”. Simultaneously, her arm stretches towards me as if to say, “I’m right here, I’m right here”. Both of our outstretched arms touch and baby starts to transfer but I make sure to hold on until he has a firm grasp of his mom. His tiny little claw hands cling to her fur like velcro, as he lets go of my hand the rest of his body swings onto her belly and just like that, he’s attached! Finally, together again, mom and baby make their way back up the tree and I make my way back down the ladder, shaking from the adrenaline rush. Once at the top of the tree, mom stopped to rest and baby sloth was able to readjust comfortably on her belly and for a few minutes all seemed right in the world.

So often we, humans, seem perplexed by the ways we negatively affect the environment. The sloths are present, therefore they must be ok. But when you look deeper into the issue you realize we affect everything. Not a single animal that lives in a human encroached environment goes unaltered. From trimming trees, to new diseases, to noise and light pollution, to crowds gathered and roads built, we are changing the environment in ways we can’t always perceive. Sloth mothers get a notoriously ‘bad reputation’ as being bad mothers because too often they are separated from their babies but aren’t able to get down and get them back. Sloths are slow prey species (especially three fingered sloths) and baby sloths are even slower and in addition, uncoordinated. It is very easy for them to get separated from mom and not be able to get back to her if mom has initiated her ‘flight response’. In human encroached areas, there is often a crowd of tourists to witness the mom ‘rejecting’ her baby, but in reality the commotion created by a crowd of people and the trauma of the original event that caused the separation has caused mom to think the baby has already been ‘eaten by a predator’ and all hope is lost as she retreats as fast as possible to safety. Sometimes the best way we can help is by keeping a watchful eye while we let things resolve naturally; only interfering when necessary.

This story represents everything about why The Sloth Institute exists and why we wake up each morning, ready to fight another day for sloth conservation: studying their behavior is important, knowing the way humans negatively affect their environment is important, and most of all doing everything in our power to keep and return them to the wild. All too often, humans are the ones that get animals into trouble, therefore we are morally obligated to be the ones to get them out. But we must always take their natural instincts and ecology into consideration and reflect on how our own actions constantly affect the environment that we all share.

#slothlove, 

– Sam