Sloth rescue costa rica Archives - The Sloth Institute

Ellen and Kermie: Update from the field

Sam Trull — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 04:07:34 +0000

It’s always fun getting updates from my research team in the field these days. One person per sloth tracking them through the jungle every night. What are Ellen and Kermie up to?!? Ellen almost never comes back to the release cage anymore. She prefers being in the jungle. She spends her entire night climbing, foraging and interacting with other wild sloths. Just before dawn, usually around 3-4am she heads to one of her preferred sleeping spots (often at the top of a palm tree) and disappears into the tree…making her extremely hard or almost impossible to spot by anyone that may pass by.

Kermie has been using the cage much more…going out every night as soon as possible and then eventually coming back to go to bed. But finally this past week he spent almost an entire week outside! First he chose an ok sleeping spot in the nook of a tree about 5 meters high….I was a little concerned because it wasn’t very high and he wasn’t as well hidden as he should be. But amazingly the next day…after a night of exploration…he chose an amazing sleeping spot twice as high and completely hidden in the canopy of a water apple tree! That was definitely one of my proudest moments for Kermie. He really is learning out there. After about a week of sleeping in that spot and hanging out in that area he made his way all the way back to the cage and chose his old familiar sleeping bag for a night.

This gradual process of helping Ellen and Kermie figure out how to live in the wild…is going so well so far! None of this would be possible without our amazing supporters! Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for helping Ellen, Kermie and all the other sloths who will be next…live the life they were meant to live. In the jungle!!!

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First Grade Class “Adopts” Sloths to Teach Rainforest Conservation

Sam Trull — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 12:34:58 +0000

The Sloth Institute announces the Elementary School Sloth Challenge, inspired by Ms. Megan Yang, 1st grade teacher at West Point Elementary in Surprise, Arizona. Ms. Yang believes in teaching students at a young age about conservation. “I am using the “adoption” of a sloth as a way to educate students about sloths as well as rainforest conservation. I am hoping by “adopting” Chuck, this will help them become personally invested in rainforest conservation and teach them that if you love wildlife you should keep them in the wild and not as pets”, said Ms. Yang.

“We are so excited about what Ms. Yang is doing by inspiring her young students in the importance of the rainforest, conservation and helping with the message that while cute, these sloths are not meant to be pets and they belong in the rainforest. It is through education that we empower our youth to create action and awareness and long-term change”, remarked Seda Sejud, co-founder The Sloth Institute Costa Rica. “We hope other all elementary grade classes will join the challenge.”

Teachers and their classes can join the October “challenge” to honor Sloth International Day, by “adopting” a sloth and submitting an anti pet (sloth) trade slogan thereby bringing awareness to children about the importance of conservation and anti pet trade policies. See TSI’s Facebook page for more on the #elementaryslothchallenge. The class with the best anti pet trade slogan will win a 20 minute skype session with Sam Trull (featured in the recent PBS Special, “Natures Miracle Orphans”) and an orphaned baby sloth being prepared for release.

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The big sloth release; Tulemar, sloths and me

Sam Trull — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 11:49:56 +0000

Hello, I’d like to introduce myself! My name is Hannah, and I’m the newest member of The Sloth Institute research team! I’m here to make sure that Kermie and Ellen, two two-toed hand-raised orphaned sloths, have a successful release, which *fingers crossed* will be happening in about a month. Before that happens, we want to get to know the area a little bit more.

The area that Kermie and Ellen are lucky enough to call their new home is Tulemar, which is a beautiful resort near Manuel Antonio, a well-known national park in Costa Rica. I’ve been here in Tulemar for little over a week, and I am so excited for Kermie and Ellen to arrive! While staying at a resort sounds a bit luxurious (and trust me, some of it is! Our room is so nice!) it isn’t without a large dose of hard work. Part of my research is making sure that Tulemar is ready for the sloth release, which means finding out who Kermie and Ellen will be sharing their home with. And let me say that they have quite a few neighbors!

So far I’ve seen troops of white faced capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and howler monkeys (and I’ve had fun howling back at them), tons of hermit crabs scattering the beach (every step you take sends hermit crabs tumbling as they pull back inside their shell), lots of beautiful birds, a few intimidatingly large iguanas, and of course, sloths galore! Every day I walk through all of Tulemar, and there is a LOT of Tulemar to explore! Thirty three acres filled with beautiful bungalows, trails through maritime nature preserves, and an unfortunate abundance of steep hills. But apparently sloths love these thirty three acres-in one day, Tom and I found 14 sloths! And I’ve even seen a few mom-and baby couples! (While all those babies are adorable, they’ve got nothing on Monster and Chuck.)
When I’m not trekking the hills of Tulemar,

I’m helping guests find sloths, telling anyone who will listen how awesome sloths are, and watching sloth behavior to learn about how sloths behave in the wild. When it’s pouring rain (which happens quite often here in Costa Rica) you can find me at the computer working on cool gadgets for The Sloth Institute.

One of my most recent projects is an app that will not only connect people better to the work of The Sloth Institute, it will also help launch a very new exciting program we have been working on (more on this coming soon!) that will contribute to the education and conservation of the sloth population.

So with all of these projects to keep me busy, it might seem that I don’t have much time to enjoy the luxury of Tulemar, but believe me when I say that being able to see all these animals here makes up for it. Tulemar is a living example of how businesses can thrive will still allowing natural ecosystems to survive, and gives me hope as a conservationist that more businesses will see how successful this example is. I better stop before I begin a tangent about conservation, but I would like to end on a final note: I am very happy to join this team and can’t wait to see how our sloth release goes!

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Good Advice–why you shouldn’t handle wild sloths

Sam Trull — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 22:49:02 +0000

Teachable Moments….What would you do if you came across wild sloths?

At various times in my life I have worked as a teacher. Whether I was wowing students with the abilities of a spider monkey’s prehensile tail in Costa Rica or leading a trek in the Malagasy rainforest at night to search for aye-ayes…my favorite lessons were always those that occurred naturally through an experience we were all having together. Being able to relate a current situation to a really interesting fact usually results in better retention of that information. But also for the teacher, it’s a much more passionate way to express yourself…and in my opinion, a much more enjoyable way to teach.

Last week, I experienced a similar teachable moment when we received a phone call about a wild sloth in distress. A group of tourists staying in nearby Manuel Antonio had been approached by a neighbor’s gardener holding an adult three-toed sloth and he was asking if they wanted to take a picture with the sloth. Luckily, these tourists knew immediately that touching and holding wild animals is a bad idea and instead of saying yes, they said “No!” and also asked him to please put the wild sloth back in a tree. They kept an eye on the sloth for a while and started to get worried that his behavior wasn’t quite normal and that maybe he was sick. He also had a very strange “shaved part” on his back and looked like he was injured.

Once we received this call, we immediately jumped into action and went to see how we could help. Upon arrival the sloth seemed pretty normal…curled up in a ball sleeping in the top of a palm tree…but obviously I needed to get closer in order to assess his health status.

I climbed a ladder and went all the way to the top in order to be within reaching distance. Moving very slowly and staying very quiet I was able to see that his eyes, mouth, fur, and muscle tone were all normal. In addition I noticed that his stomach was empty meaning he had just successfully taken his once a week trip to the toilet. Gently coaxing him to show me his back I discovered, as I suspected, that the shaved and wounded looking part that worried the tourists was just his normal male patch. Male three toed sloths have a very distinguishable patch of fur on their backs that is much shorter, softer and orange/yellow colored with a black stripe down the middle. It makes sexual identification really easy in this species.

Happy to discover that he looked healthy and normal…I then started to look around to figure out if there was anything we could do to help him. What became very obvious as soon as I started to “think like a sloth” was that this male had no good way to get back to the trees that he could eat. He was stuck in a palm tree, surrounded by other palm trees, parking lots and houses. The good trees that he could eat and hide in were about 20 meters away. I know most of you might be thinking that 20 meters is nothing…but for a sloth, 20 meters is a big deal…especially if there is no easy climbing route. Sloths can’t jump, they can’t see very far away and they move slowly and deliberately. Each step uses up valuable calories that they can’t afford to waste. Wild sloths have survived for millions of years by being VERY good at efficient movements through the trees.

After a day of being handled and stressed out, I hated the idea of having to grab him again, but it became obvious that the best thing to do was get him back to where he was originally found…before he had been interrupted. Climbing the ladder again, this time with a towel in hand, I quickly grabbed the sloth, wrapped him in the towel and climbed back down the ladder.

A few minutes prior to grabbing him we asked the gardener where he had found him and we identified a beautiful water apple tree with ample hiding and climbing spots that connected to many other trees including a guarumo tree with many yummy leaves for him to eat. Carefully carrying him over to the water apple tree, I placed him on the trunk and he immediately rushed (sloth style) up into the canopy and didn’t even turn around to say goodbye. He was probably so grateful to be back somewhere that he felt safe and hidden again.

After ensuring the sloth’s safety and return to his territory we spoke to the gardener and explained why he shouldn’t touch a wild sloth again (unless in immediate danger) and how it is very stressful to be handled by people and can get them disoriented, lost and sick. We also chatted with the tourists who first reported the distressed wild sloth and I explained that the patch on his back was normal…and we thanked them for their help. Luckily this rescue was pretty easy and quick. There was no struggle and the sloth being helped was in good physical condition. But what was most important about this experience was the learning opportunity for this gardener, the tourists, business owners and any local people who may be reading. Through teachable moments like this, I’ve started to realize that our duty as wildlife rehabbers is not only to the wildlife that we rescue, but also to the community….we are educators and we have a chance to help make human lives better through education and by resolving human/wildlife encounters that no one is sure how to handle. Remember, leave the wild sloth handling to the experts and enjoy from afar.

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“Sharing is Caring”….& meeting Moe the sloth at Cincinnati Zoo”

Sam Trull — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 14:59:41 +0000

Sharing is Caring” – one of the first behaviors you are taught as a small child in pre-school. While a very relevant and great life lesson, my hunch is that pre-school teachers nail this phrase to the board to avoid fights and snotty tear-stained cheeks…not so much for the underlying greater value.

But when you think about it, sharing really IS caring. Caring about something bigger than yourself. This past December I traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to participate in something much bigger than myself. In an attempt to share what knowledge I have accumulated over the past two years, I presented about sloth rehabilitation during the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC) Symposium. In addition to speaking, I was also privy to many amazing talks ranging from how to build a homemade incubator to how to hand-raise, release and post-release monitor bobcats. The amount of knowledge in that conference room was both exciting and inspiring. Meeting people from across the US, I know I have made some lasting connections and I look forward to continuing to work with and share knowledge with other IWRC members. The night of the banquet I was honored with the presentation of the “2014 Susan M. Fosco Scholarship” which provided me with much needed financial assistance to attend the conference. Being one of those people who, “never wins anything” I felt very honored to receive such a special scholarship. Being presented with a fancy plaque at the banquet was pretty fun too!

Also while in Cincinnati, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit the Cincinnati Zoo’s very own sloth, “Moe”. Moe is a female adult Choloepus didactylus; the South American two-fingered sloth species. In addition to visiting with Moe I was also invited to speak about Sloth Rehabilitation to Zoo staff and volunteers in a brown bag seminar the day before the IWRC conference began. The Cinncinati Zoo staff came to my talk with great questions and before I knew it I had been talking for almost an hour and a half! It’s hard getting me to shut up once I start talking about sloths! I spent the rest of the day chatting with Moe’s keepers and meeting other zoo animals. Two days later, I went back to the Zoo again and was able to witness some amazing operant conditioning sessions. Not only is the Cincinnati Zoo committed to taking exemplary care of the animals in their collection, but they have also committed a large part of their budget to helping in-situ conservation efforts as well. Zoo visitors learn about how they can help animals in the wild, making Cincinnati Zoo animals true ambassadors to their counterparts living in their natural environments.

My trip to Cincinnati was short, but impactful. Having the opportunity to not only share knowledge with others in the same field, but also to meet my first American sloth…I feel truly inspired and re-committed to sloth conservation. There are so many people all over the globe working with sloths and wanting to learn more about them and help them in their native forests. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible and what can be learned about sloths and to be able to bring this passion to others reminds me of what sharing is truly about. #slothlove

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Sloths on the BBC – Our international sloth stars

Sam Trull — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 02:42:01 +0000

After learning that the rescue center where I worked was chosen as the Costa Rican Rescue Center to be featured in the BBC series, “Natures Miracle Orphans”, Hannah, one of our returning volunteers, and I literally ran screaming from the wildlife center and jumped fully-clothed into the pool, pausing only to remove our phones from our pockets. Somehow this gesture seemed like a perfect way to express our pure excitement about this wonderful opportunity; plus, let’s face it, we were really hot and sweaty because we live in the jungle.

Read about BBC’s Nature’s Miracle Orphans Show airing mid-August.

With almost 8 weeks of filming, participating in this series was a huge time commitment. However, towards the end of it, I found myself wishing it wasn’t going to be over. It’s really difficult to put into words how much this experience meant to me and how life changing it has been in many ways. The film crew was exceptional, was always respectful of the animals, and was a lot of fun to be around. Each day was a new and interesting challenge trying to figure out the best way to tell the animal’s stories while making time to film real life events and emergencies as they happened. At first, the process felt a little awkward having strangers around when it would normally be just a few of us taking care of the animals. Eventually though, being followed around by the crew and cameras felt so natural that I started to forget how life was without them. Every intimate moment, whether sad, happy, or scary, became a moment I wanted to share and felt privileged to be able to do so. We welcomed the film crew as members of the family, and I truly felt invested in the final product of the show. I always felt like this was a project we were creating together and that it was a fabulous way to let the world know what we are doing here in our corner of the rainforest in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.

There is no “average day” and taking care of rescued wildlife, especially orphans, is a 24 hour commitment. My life revolves around what the animals need and most days are filled with feeding and exercising babies, gathering wild foods, observations, medical exams, instructing volunteers and of course rescues and releases. The opportunity to share my passion with the world is rare and precious, and having the chance to invite a diverse audience to ride the same emotional roller coaster that I live on a daily basis is something I will always cherish. I just hope that this series provides the audience with a new perspective on wildlife rescue. It is my goal that we portray these animals not just as cute and cuddly creatures that exist solely for us to have and to hold, but instead that they are amazing creatures with wonderful stories of their own and that they all deserve another chance to be wild.

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I Love Sloths……Join me & Help me Get them back home

Sam Trull — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 01:41:33 +0000

I love sloths

When I wake up in the morning…I think about sloths. When I go to sleep at night…I think about sloths….and throughout the day when not directly working on another project; I am completely engrossed in thoughts about sloths. In fact, just this morning…I shot out of bed with another research idea about sloths and went directly to my computer to start typing. If I could remember my dreams better…I’m pretty sure I would find that I dream about sloths too.

No people, that is NOT an exaggeration.

I realize that this description of my innermost ideas, may sound crazy to some and at the very least unbalanced to others. However, I don’t care because I LOVE sloths! The rest of the world is going wild over sloths and a lot of people, who have never even met one, are throwing around the idea that they adore them. But, I can assure you that my love is pure and is based solely on doing everything I can to save them. They are NOT meant to be pets or to be possessed or owned or spend their days in tiny cages. They are meant to be free and living in the forest as they evolved to live. They should be free to smell the breeze, feel the sun and make their own decisions about their lives.

Sloths are incredibly charismatic animals. They are gentle (when not stressed), beautiful, adorable, unique, smart, playful and just plain cool. They are also particularly vulnerable to the threats that humans impose (roads, dogs, habitat fragmentation, hunting, pet trade) yet they have survived over the centuries because of some incredible evolutionary adaptations. However, these exact evolutionary adaptations are what make them so difficult to care for in captivity and our encroachment on their habitat has lead to their frequent appearance at rescue centers throughout Central and South America.

I met my first rescued sloth orphan exactly 541 days ago. Her name is Pelota and she is now the oldest member of “The Three Amigos”. As soon as I saw her, I fell in love. Clutched tightly to her teddy bear she was fast asleep (it was day time and two-toed sloths are nocturnal). Her caregiver at the time started explaining Pelota’s diet and routine and then she said something that lit a fire inside of me that has yet to be extinguished. “Sloths always die”. My heart sank and I felt sick to my stomach. How could that be? Why? Why do they die? Instead of feeling discouraged…I felt motivated. I wanted to know more…everything I could about sloths. I NEEDED to know more. That night, I went home and like a good 21st century researcher…I started googling. Downloading and reading every paper I could find about sloths I began to learn about their biology and behavioral needs which started to paint a picture of why they are so difficult to hand-raise and maintain in captivity. However, the more I learned the more I realized that the current scientific literature still leaves so many unanswered questions.

Being naturally inquisitive, these unanswered questions are what keep me up at night. I feel an intense obligation and responsibility to not only keep the sloths in my care alive, but for them to thrive and make it back home to the jungle. The thought of “my babies” living the rest of their lives behind the protective bars of a cage makes me nauseous. They deserve more. In order to give them what they deserve I need to learn as much as possible through scientific research as well as work with the numerous other places around the world who care for sloths. Any person who works to save and return sloths to the wild, is a friend of mine and I want to meet them, talk to them and figure out how we can work together to save as many sloths as possible.

A year and a half later, Pelota is thriving with her younger friends Kermie and Ellen and they are my first hand-raised sloth orphans gearing up for their big release. But the process of getting them to this point has been very time consuming and expensive. Even more expensive is studying this process and planning a post-release observational study. The three amigos will be the first hand-raised sloths that I release back to the wild, but they won’t be the last. It is important to learn from this process and use that knowledge to help future rescued sloths. The Sloth Institute was created to seek scientific answers to these burning questions and stop at nothing to give every orphaned or injured sloth the second chance they deserve to be wild.

The sloths that I care for need me. They need me to love them unselfishly and they need me to help them get back home. Are you willing to prove your love for sloths and join me?

Sam Trull
Director and Co-Founder

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