Wild Side of Costa Rica
You Lazy Sloth ! | |
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By |
Apparently this statement is quite true. Sloths can in fact spend up to 18 hours daily in slumber (jealous?). Though I have heard them described as indisputably ugly, I have also heard others who find them quite cute, but at the very least sloths count amongst the stranger creatures of the world. |
Perezosos !
Costa Rica is home to both a nocturnal two-toed variety (Choloepus hoffmani) and a three-toed variety (Bradypus variegatus) of sloth, known in Spanish as a perezoso, both of the order Xenarthra (along with armadillos and anteaters). It is more likely you'll spot a three-toed sloth, which is active by day, and not likely to pass you too quickly to notice. At full speed they can barely cover a mile in four hours. Usually you can find them hanging about in trees close to their diet of leaves, especially in their preferred Cecropia tree.
Digestion period of a week !
Because of its highly indigestible diet, sloths have a digestion period of a week, and its slowness is due to a metabolic rate half that of other mammals its size. It has evolved to a size big enough to process large amounts of food, but small enough not to break the branches on which it hangs.
Sloths may live up to 20 years !
© El Residente ARCR Administración S.A. San José, Costa Rica N.B. Like all information on the internet, this article may currently be incorrect or out of date.
So who could pick on such a helpless creature you ask? Well jaguars and eagles count among the predators that find them easy targets. Their best line of defense is that they are not hygienic, and the layer of algae and mold on their fur helps to camouflage them. Sloths may live up to 20 years old, and grow as big as a medium sized dog. They are not family oriented creatures, and mothers will wander off once the baby has reached around six to nine months, leaving the youngster with her 'home range' of trees. Mind you with so much time devoted to eating and sleeping, I guess they don't have much chance for quality family activities.
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