The heroes of our article will be very funny creatures - animal sloths. They are common only in South America. They chose moist forests. Surprisingly, almost all his life this animal spends upside down. With four limbs, he clings to a thick branch and freezes for a long time on it. The agility with which he is able to move in this position is amazing.
Sloth - an animal, most of whose life passes in a dream. This is probably why he got that name. He is more active at night. The brown-green color of this mammal makes it almost invisible on trees in the daytime.
Sloth description
Sloth - the animal is relatively small. The length of his body does not exceed 70 centimeters, and weight - 8 kilograms. Outwardly, these animals look a bit like monkeys, but, unlike primates, sloths most often move in limbo and lead a solitary lifestyle in the crowns of trees at a high height (30-40 meters).
The fingers of these animals are so tenacious that they allow them to hold on to the branches very tightly. They sleep upside down. The tail of sloths, unlike monkeys, is short and completely covered with wool. The animal has a rather thick fur. It almost completely covers small eyes and ears. The muzzle is created by nature so that it seems that the animal is constantly smiling. For those who are interested in which group of animals the sloth belongs, we inform that it belongs to the order of the not-toothed.
These funny animals, despite the slowness, are able to swim perfectly, developing under water a speed of up to 5 km / h. True, they use this skill extremely rarely.
Types of Sloths
There are several types:
- Three-fingered.
- Brown-necked.
- Two-fingered.
- Collared.
- Dwarf.
They all have two or three fingers. In this regard, they are often classified into two groups - two-fingered and three-fingered sloths. Despite the existing small differences, all sloths are very similar to each other. An interesting fact: scientists claim that in ancient times, the distant ancestors of sloths were the size of an elephant, but, like other giants, they became extinct about 12 thousand years ago.
Lifestyle & Nutrition
The basis of the diet of sloths is woody leaves, but there is a place in it for a small percentage of animal food (small lizards, insects). The microflora of the digestive tract of these slow animals is designed so that hard leaves are completely digested and absorbed by the body. Symbiotic bacteria help speed up the process.
Animal sloths, as a rule, are eaten so that a quarter or a third of their weight is occupied by the food they eat. After that, they do not eat for some time and digest previously eaten leaves for a month. They have low nutritional value and low calorie content. Such food forces the animals to save energy and strength. They sleep about ten hours a day, for the rest of the time they move extremely slowly, if necessary, and more often are in a static state.
If they suddenly get hungry, they simply turn a very movable neck in the right direction and take out a leaflet that they like with their mouths. Even the birth of sloths takes place on a tree. They descend from him once a week to satisfy their natural needs. This happens so rarely because these animals have a very large bladder. Sloths are clean, in their "house" (on a tree) they never defecate, and their feces are buried in a hole. Going down from tall trees, these animals perform a feat, because on earth they are completely defenseless.
Breeding
Admittedly, these are not noisy animals. Three-fingered sloths, when they are unhappy with something, can occasionally shout “ah-ah” or sniff loudly. During the mating season, these cries help females and males find each other. Two-fingered sloths mate all year round, and three-fingered sloths mate in the spring (March-April).
In various species, pregnancy lasts from six months to a year. One cub is born. During childbirth, the female hangs on the front legs, and the hind legs hang down freely. A newborn sloth immediately grabs her mother's paws by the wool and begins to look for her breasts.
For two years, he eats mother's milk and only then begins to gradually get used to plant foods. A little sloth becomes independent by nine months, and is considered an adult at two and a half years. In captivity, these animals live up to 20 years. Sloths in vivo live less.
Captivity
As already mentioned, the animal sloth, the photo of which we posted in this article, eats cecropia leaves, because their content at home is quite problematic. If you are able to provide him with this food, then you can safely put him in your home mini-zoo.
To maintain a sloth, it is advisable to set aside a separate room or arrange an angle for it, which needs to be equipped in a certain way. Artificial trees should be placed and fixed here , where the slow animal will hang. It feels quite comfortable in a hammock. Rope ladders do not interfere.
A sloth needs a tropical microclimate, which in the house will help create an air humidifier. There should always be fresh water in the drinker. In the summer, it is advisable to let him out into the aviary on the street so that the animal enjoys the sun's rays. Temperature changes are very bad for a sloth.