Baby Sloth Debuts At Denver Zoo

DENVER, CO -- Denver Zoo's first newborn of 2018, a Linne's two-toed sloth, made its first appearance Thursday. After 10 months of gestation, the baby was born Sunday, Jan. 28 to Charlotte Greenie, the Zoo’s 21-year-old female sloth, and her 27-year-old mate, Elliot. The zoo has not yet chosen a name, and the gender of the baby has not been identified, a statement from the zoo said.

Charlotte and her baby are both heathy and thriving and "have spent the week resting and bonding prior to their public debut" in their habitat at Bird World. The baby clung to Charlotte immediately after birth and will remain attached to her almost exclusively for at least six months, the zoo said in a statement.

Charlotte came to Denver Zoo from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in 2015. During her pregnancy, the zoo said she and her baby were closely monitored with regular ultrasounds, checkups and weigh-ins to ensure they were healthy and gaining the appropriate amount of weight. Keepers captured Charlotte's weight by training her to come to a specific branch connected to a scale, the zoo said.

Linne’s two-toed sloths, which are also known as the Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth or southern two-toed sloth, are found in the rainforests of South America, primarily in Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. They are a nocturnal species that spend 15 to 20 hours per day sleeping, and become active about an hour after sunset until about two hours before sunrise.

Linne’s two-toed sloths are among two types of sloths—two-toed and three-toed—and six different species, including the pygmy three-toed, maned, pale-throated, brown-throated, and Hoffman’s. Although the Linne’s two-toed is not currently considered threated, two other species, the pygmy three-toed and maned, are critically endangered and vulnerable, respectively.

Want to see the baby? You're likely get a glimpse of Charlotte and her baby at Bird World, however the view of the baby might be impaired by foliage or mom's embrace, the zoo said.

Images via Denver Zoo