sloths!

• 24 comments •

Just outside of Puerto Viejo, is a Sloth Sanctuary, where injured sloths are rescued and rehabilitated. Sadly, due to urban sprawl, the sloths' natural habitat is diminishing. These animals have been accidentally climbing onto power lines, mistaking them for trees. Many have been run over by vehicles trying to cross the road. Also, on land, sloths are slow moving, and some local children exploit this to abuse them.

We were guided around the sanctuary by some volunteers who showed us a video of a "sloth ballet", a wild sloth with her baby (wild sloths tend to visit the grounds of the sanctuary on their own, as it is adjacent to a forest), and several adorable baby sloths:



It was really neat to get so close to the sloths. They're very docile but those claws look pretty vicious (we were told they're not). It's nice to visit animals in a setting that is non-exploitative and seems to really support their conservation.


The centre has a sloth gift shop where you can buy pretty much anything you can think of with a picture of a sloth on it. Even the restrooms had pictures of sloths:


The star of the show was an 18 year old sloth called Buttercup:


If you'd like, you can check out a video of Buttercup eating a flower, that we took, on youtube.

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24 comments

  1. Oh! What a lovely little post. That must have been such a fun experience! I love sloths, with their sweet faces and slow nature. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. They seem nice but at the same time they scare me!It must have been a great experience :-)

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  3. Ever since I was young, whenever people asked what my favourite animal was, I would reply "sloths!". I have just always thought they were so cute and gentle. I'm happy to see that such a generous conservation area exists for them.

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  4. i worked with 2 sloths and the were the sweetest things ever. we trained them to hold onto us like if we were a tree, kind of like a bear hug. i loved feeding them, it was funny.

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  5. i think i would have a hard time controlling myself...i'd talk like "sid the sloth" the entire time! ha ha

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  6. AWWWWWWWWW I don't know what else to say but AWWWWW. They are so incredibly adorable. My heart is melting.

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  7. Alice from KL2.2.10

    Sooooo cute babies!!! It's the first time I see such adorable sloths! I want one! :)

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  8. Anonymous3.2.10

    These are possibly the cutest photos I have ever seen. Awesome!

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  9. This is most certainly the cutest thing I'll see all day.

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  10. They are cute but ugly at the same time lol.

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  11. my ice cold heart just thawed. ADORABLE.

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  12. I've been to that Sloth Sanctuary!! We stopped by there on our honeymoon. It's such a wonderful place and the sloths are adorable. It's great to see Buttercup is still doing well x

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  13. how cute...I love Buttercup's picture with the flowers

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  14. cool cool cool cool cool!!!!!

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  15. This made my day! Who knew sloths could be so adorable?

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  16. Anonymous5.2.10

    oh my goodness.. what sweet little faces they have!!

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  17. Hey there. Aw, who knew sloths could look so adorable? I love your photos...what kind of camera do you have? And did you think that Costa Rica would be a good place to live and teach English? I might move there in the future...

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  18. They are adorable aren't they. It is nice to see a place taking good care of these little guys. It is so heartbreaking to see how much destruction the human race is putting on the planet and wildlife. There are so many conservation places in the world trying their best to save the wildlife and unfortunately facing a loosing battle. At least some are being helped. I wish there was a solution.

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  19. lovely pictures. I've never seen or heard of sloths before, quite adorable looking

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  20. Now when I call someone a sloth I will think of this and smile! xo

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  21. hahaha oh man, the one picture of the baby sloth peeking out amidst blankets and pillows, it's too much to handle~ oh, how there are sights to see in the world! (:

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  22. That's so amazing that you went to the same place in which that video was filmed! Lucky! ;) They're so adorable. Thank you for sharing the link to this post with me! And I love your blog!!

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  23. Oh my goodness. How sweet are these creatures? I want one!! Thank you for sharing this experience. :)

    -Hope
    www.aflatteringtale.com

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