While Sloths are known for their slow nature, a mother sloth in Hangzhou Safari Park was quick to give birth…
At 14:30 on November 12, cheers were heard in and around Hangzhou’s Safari Park because a pregnant mother sloth from South America had, in just half an hour, successively given birth to a baby sloth after her six-month pregnancy.
In the first days of facing this new world, the baby sloth kept snuggling up to the belly of its mother and feeding on her breast milk. With a half-sleepy appearance and tiny legs kicking the air, the baby sloth has been described as rather cute. The breeder said that after the birth, the baby sloth will cuddle against the mother sloth for about a month to keep warm and to be protected from natural enemies. Although the park avoids natural enemies, the little sloth keeps its natural habit for a sense of security and only when it grows old enough to gain strength for climbing, will it leave the hug of its mother sloth.
It is understood that even with technical tools, differentiating the gender of an adult sloth is difficult, let alone a 12cm baby sloth which weighs just 300 grams. So, whether it’s a girl or boy remains to be known, and now the park staff are racking their brains in what to call their baby sloth.
In view of the descending temperature, Hangzhou Safari Park has now adjusted the living temperatures for animals from different parts of the world. In the animal nursery house, baby animals which were born within a month are in incubator light boxes, and those animals from the tropics such as sloths are lucky to have a luxury configuration – under-floor heating.