Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth
Choloepus hoffmanni
We have two resident two-toed sloths named Flash and Priscilla. They, like their wild counterparts, move slowly, hang upside down from trees, and are oddly adorable.
In the Wild
Two-toed sloths live in Central and South America’s tropical and cloud forests. With long and sharp claws, hair that grows in the opposite direction of other mammals’ hair, and organs situated for an inverted life, sloths are perfectly adapted to a life suspended from tree branches.
Learn What the Sloth Eats
Sloths eat a vegetarian diet of leaves, buds, stems and fruit — everything found in the trees where they live. A slow metabolism means sloths don’t eat much per day and they sleep a lot. Plus, they weigh significantly less than similarly sized mammals.
Tour the Animal’s Habitat
Experience our sloth up close by feeding them while learning about these gentle creatures during a sloth encounter. While they may be slow movers, they are loaded with personality.
QUICK FACTS
Conservation status: Least concern
Average length: 21-29 inches
Daily Sleep: 15 hours
Lifespan of sloths: 20-40 years
DID YOU KNOW?
The anteater is the sloth’s closest relative.
Sloths can swim three times faster than they can move on land.
They can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes.
Sloths have the lowest body temperature and the most wide-ranging temperature of all animals. It can be as low as 74 and as high as 92 degrees Fahrenheit.
CONSERVATION
The dwindling rainforests are the biggest threat to sloths. Electrocution from power lines, a pet sloth industry and natural predators also endanger the two-toed sloth.