Common Name: Linne’s two-toed Sloth Scientific Name: Choloepus didactylus
LEAST CONCERN Linne’s two-toed Sloth Distribution: South America
Habitat: Forest Height: Approx. 60cm Weight: 10kg Diet: Herbivorous Fruit, leaves, twigs.
Two-Toed Sloths have pale, sandy coloured fur. This fur has two layers. They have long guard hairs to protect them from sharp tree branches and rain and then a short under fur for warmth. In the wet season they fur takes on a green tinge. This is from the alga that grows on their coats. They have very long arms and legs and large claws. This sloth is found in South America. It ranges from the east Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and into central Brazil where they inhabit the tropical forest of these areas. They spend most of their lives in trees, although they are very good swimmers. Sloths are nocturnal and spend much of their time looking for food. Most of their diet is made up of fruit and leaves although they also eat twigs and tree bark. Sloths spend nearly their whole lives upside down! They eat, sleep, mate and give birth in this position! Females may accumulate into groups where there is adequate food. Males, however, are solitary only coming into contact with the females to mate. After mating the females have a long gestation period (pregnancy) of about 11 months. The young clings to its mother until it is about 20 days old when it can hang upside down alone. Sexual maturity is reaches at about 4 years old. Sloths can live for up to 20 years.