Baby three-toed sloth thriving after rescue
News
To help keep rescued sloths safe, we've funded the construction of four enclosures in Colombia that will serve as habitats for rehabilitating sloths.
In December of last year, a male three-toed sloth was brought to AIUNAU sanctuary, a rehabilitation center in Caldas, Colombia.
He was barely three months old when he arrived at the sanctuary, found by a truck driver on the side of the road in Ecuador.
AIUNAU has discovered that he had some respiratory problems, but otherwise seems to be recovering well in his new home.
AIUNAU enclosures
To keep rescued sloths safe we funded the construction of four enclosures that will serve as habitats for them during their rehabilitation.
The habitats have been carefully designed to provide the best care and freedom, with plenty of food and large tree canopies for the sloths explore and take refuge.
Although the enclosures have been built and designed to rehabilitate adult sloths, each new habitat can receive either four juvenile sloths or one adult sloth. This means that the recently rescued sloth will likely have company in his new home very soon.
These are the current sloth enclosures at the AIUNAU sanctuary, they are made with a natural dirt and grass floor, trees and branches to climb and explore.
Specialized care and veterinary treatment will ensure that young rescued sloths are monitored and given proper nutrition as they transition into adulthood. Once mature and healthy enough, they will be released back into their natural habitat in the wild.
Rehabilitating baby sloths
Often, baby sloths that arrive at the AIUNAU sanctuary suffer from anxiety after being torn from their mothers at a young age.
To mediate this anxiety, each baby sloth is placed in their own wicker basket, full of soft blankets to simulate the warmth and protection of their mother.
The enclosures are filled with a grass floor, trees to climb and a clear roof to allow them to see the natural environment all around. The enclosures are built to keep sloths warm and safe from the elements until they are big enough to survive on their own.
Machito (front) and La Negrita (in the basket) are two-toed sloths currently being rehabilitated at the AIUNAU sanctuary.
The other three enclosures are scheduled to be built later this year; a second enclosure in Caldas and two others in a pre-release location on a forested ranch in the state of Cordoba.