Animal
Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth
A nocturnal South American canopy dweller with a very slow metabolism.
Content language
The two-toed sloth’s slow movements match its low metabolic rate. Its food consists mainly of tree leaves and shoots, supplemented with fruit. It spends most of its life above the ground, in the canopy of tropical forest. A plant-based diet and unhurried movement present a very different image of a mammal from a fast-running predator.
This sloth lives in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and French Guiana. It is mainly active at night and usually leads a solitary life. An adult can weigh up to about nine kilograms. Its natural surroundings are tropical forest, rather than open, treeless country.
Despite its arboreal life, it can swim well. It rarely descends to the ground; defecating is one of the occasions when it does. The canopy does not offer complete safety: jaguars, ocelots, harpy eagles and anacondas sometimes prey on sloths. Slow movement does not mean an absence of danger. During the day a resting animal may stay in the same part of a tree for a long time, with its main activity falling after visitors have usually left the garden.
For children
A sloth moves slowly, but it is not playing statues. Its body works at an unhurried pace. It lives mainly in trees, eating leaves, shoots and fruit. Its natural home is the tropical forest of South America.
It is usually busiest at night. It may spend the day resting, and an adult generally lives alone. It can weigh up to about nine kilograms. The surroundings it needs for moving about are different from those of an animal running across an open meadow.
A sloth rarely comes down to the ground, except for occasions such as going to the toilet. It can also swim well. In the forest it must avoid predators such as jaguars and harpy eagles. Resting quietly on a branch is part of its way of life.
Question 1 of 2
What is the main food of Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth?
- Location
- Aviary building.