Status Least Concern
Size Head and body length 54-74cm
Weight 4-8.4kg
Gestation About 10 months but it is highly variable (5.5-11.5 months)
Young 1
Life span Up to 40 years
The two-toed sloth uses its long forearms to pull leaves, tender twigs and fruit towards its mouth to eat.
The Linne’s two-toed sloth lives most of its life up in the trees of the tropical moist lowland and montane forests of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana; Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
The mother sloth gives birth upside down to a single young who will hook its small claws into the fur of its mother’s front to hold on. By five months the infant will regularly feed away from its mother but they will stay in contact with each other for two years.
When the sloth are down on the forest floor they are vulnerable to ocelots, jaguar and other cats but if threatened the sloth is capable of inflicting severe wounds with their teeth and long, clawed forefeet.
The two-toed sloth is found in large numbers in protected areas and is not commonly hunted by people.
Two-toed sloths are nocturnal and solitary.
A whole host of invertebrates can be found within the hair of wild sloth as well as algae and fungi growing on the hair!
Claws are used to hang from tree branches and can be 7.5cm long.
Nearly all mammals have 7 neck vertebrae but two-toed sloths might have 6 or 7, sometimes 8!
They can swim and they use the breast stroke.
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Graze Restaurant
Having been an annual member for some years I have been impressed by the continuing improvements at Marwell: Not only to the animal displays but also to the facilities for visitors. In previous years our visits were limited to the summer as a picnic was the only way to ensure palatable… Read full reviewErnie, 11th January 2019