The Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica is home to so many orphans that they were forced to relocate and build a larger juvenile nursery.
The sanctuary takes in both Bradypus variegatus (Three-toed sloths) and Choloepus hoffmanni (Two-toed sloths).
The sloths in the sanctuary are rescued and rehabilitated, and they are sent back in the wild if they are healthy enough, according to the sanctuary's website.
The new juvenile nursery is equipped with a exercise area and more dedicated space for daily weighing, cleaning and feeding routine. The area also allows young sloths to practice their climbing and agility skills - which are essential if they are capable of eventually going back out into the wild.
Meet five of the sanctuary's young sloths whose lives have significantly improved thanks to the specialized care:
1. Issy the Choloepus sloth gets weighed frequently by sanctuary workers to make sure she is gaining weight properly. This is one of the most important routines at the Sloth Sanctuary. Sloths who have trouble gaining weight are weighed every day, while healthier sloths are weighed a little less frequently.
2. Mandy the Bradypus sloth smashed her jaw after falling out of a tree just before she was rescued by Sloth Sanctuary. A sanctuary vetenarian wired Mandy's jaw together and the corroborative sloth calmly accepted being hand-fed liquified leaves for three weeks following the surgery. Mandy's wires will be removed soon and then she will be released back into the wild in the same place she was found.
3. Lunita the Bradypus sloth was rescued by two good Samaritans when she was found clinging to her mother's dead body, who had been hit by a car. Lunita's rescuers brought her to the Sloth Sanctuary where she was given much-needed goat milk and a warm incubator. She has remarkably improved since her arrival at the sanctuary in early 2014. Now Lunita no longer needs milk and is piling on weight with a diet of fresh cecropia leaves!
4. Simon the Choloepus sloth arrived at the Sloth Sanctuary after his mother was killed by a dog. A survivor of the same dog attack, Simon had bite wounds on his back, arms and hands. The Sloth Sanctuary is helping the baby sloth recover and said, "he has such an amazing fighting spirit so we know he will be fine!"
5. Sloth friends Rolo and Sherlock were both abandoned by their mothers as babies. Although sloths usually hang out alone in the wild, baby orphans tend to bond with each other. The Sloth Sanctuary said these young friends will remain together even as adults.
