Mother Sloth and Baby High in a Costa Rican Tree

Costa Rica is home to two sloth species: the brown-throated three-fingered sloth and Hoffmann's two-fingered sloth. Both are arboreal and spend the majority of their lives in tree canopies, descending to the ground only about once a week to defecate. Females carry their young continuously for the first several months, with the infant clinging to the mother's belly as she moves slowly through the branches. Sloths have an exceptionally slow metabolism tied to a leaf-based diet, which is low in calories and difficult to digest, and this pace allows them to conserve energy while avoiding the attention of predators like harpy eagles.