Linne's Two-Toed Sloth

With two claws on the front feet and three on the back, Linne’s two-toed sloths are designed for an arboreal life. They move through the tree branches and even mate and give birth while hanging upside down!

While baby sloths begin eating solid foods within a couple of weeks after birth, they remain with their mother for almost a year.

These sloths reach sexual maturity in approximately three years.

Sloths may sleep 20 hours a day, curled up in the fork of a tree.

Diet

Leaves, shoots, fruits, and possibly an occasional egg make up the wild two-toed sloth’s diet. Here at the Aquarium, we feed our sloths green beans and other vegetables, sweet potatoes, grapes and other fruits, and a commercial diet formulated especially for leaf-eating animals.

Size

Linne’s two-toed sloths will grow to the size of a small dog, approximately 24–30 inches in length and about 12–20 pounds in weight.

Range

Northern South America

Population Status

Linne’s two-toed sloth is currently not threatened, but habitat loss and fragmentation of forests pose many concerns.

Predators

Ocelots, jaguars, and harpy eagles are the sloth’s main predators. Some humans hunt and kill sloths for food. Forest fragmentation forces sloths to come to the ground to travel to additional food trees. Cumbersome on the ground, they are easy prey for dogs and humans. In addition, many sloths are killed by motor vehicles when trying to cross roadways, and others are electrocuted by overhead electrical lines.

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