Isn't he the cutest thing? And, by the end of the video, you can see how they got their name!!


Sloths are medium-sized mammals that live in Central America and are omnivores but may also eat insects, small lizards and carrion. However, a sloth's main diet consists of mostly buds, tender shoots, and leaves.

Sloths move only when necessary and then very slowly: they have about half as much muscle tissue as other animals of similar weight. They can move at a marginally higher speed if they are in immediate danger from a predator (15 feet per minute), but they burn large amounts of energy doing so. Their specialized hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside-down from branches without effort. Their claws also serve as their only natural defense. A cornered sloth may swipe at its attackers in an effort to scare them away or wound them. Despite sloths' apparent defenselessness, predators do not pose special problems: in the trees sloths have good camouflage and, moving only slowly, do not attract attention. Only during their infrequent visits to ground level do they become vulnerable.

In terms of their sleep, sloths are one of the most somnolent animals ever known, sleeping from 15 to 18 hours each day!