Touching rearing
Sloth offspring at Schönbrunn Zoo
Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo is delighted to welcome a cute baby two-fingered sloth.
It is still well hidden in its mother's soft belly fur, but is already so big that with a little patience it can already be observed, the zoo reported on Thursday. The cub was born on November 18. Whether it is a female or a male will only become clear when the youngster separates from its mother.
This is already the 14th cub for the parents, who can be found in the bird house. The mother sloth is caring for her young, which will suckle for around six months. However, it is already nibbling on vegetables such as celery or lettuce from time to time.
A life in slow motion
Two-fingered sloths snooze for up to 20 hours a day. This allows them to save energy, as their plant-based diet provides little of it. In the rainforests of South and Central America, they have developed amazing adaptations to their life in slow motion, explains zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck: "Sloths spend their lives hanging upside down from branches. Thanks to the crown of their head, which runs along their belly, rainwater can run off easily. They also grow algae in their fur, which provides them with camouflage and also serves as a snack."
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