General information:

These tropical mammals use their long claws to hang onto branches while they feast the leaves that other animals can’t reach. Those claws, however, make walking on the ground difficult, which is why they spend most of their time in trees. That is why they only leave the trees for going to the bathroom (which they always do at the same spot by the way and only once a week) and for a proper swim. In case they feel like swimming, they just drop themselves from the branches they are hanging on and start backstrokes which makes them three times faster than on land.

Diet:

Sloths are folivores which means that they only eat leaves, buds, twigs and occasionally fruits or insects and rodents. They can feed on 50 types of tree in the American tropical rainforest, but the cecropia tree species is their favourite one.

Habitat:

Sloths live in central and South America in tall trees found in rain and cloud forests

Habits:

Sloths like sleeping while curled into a ball in the fork of a tropical tree or hanging by their claws from three branches. Also, against many prejudices, they only sleep as much as humans do.

Whenever they don’t sleep or eat, they might engage in mating which is one of the only things they’re fast at. Males will fight for a female by hanging from branches by their feet and pawing at each other. After fighting for the female and her deciding on one of those majestic lovers, it will only take them 10 seconds to mate. Usually, female sloths only give birth to one baby sloth while also hanging in the trees. This baby sloth, however, will only stay with her mother for up to a few months. Otherwise, sloths are loners.