Sloths in Panama

I saw both two-toed and three-toed Sloths

In Panama we visited the Gamboa Sloth Sanctuary. Run by the Pan-American Conservation Association, we learned about the Hoffman’s Two-Toed Sloths they have there. Also known as the Northern Two-Toed Sloth, this species has just two toes on its forelegs. It has a long snout. It also has no hair on the soles of its feet.

Sloths are arboreal mammals, spending their lives in the canopies of trees in rainforests. They move slowly and they sleep alot. The Sloths in the Sanctuary are rescues who cannot be released back to the rainforest. They have a pretty easy life. For more on Sloths, visit a resource page at the World Wildlife Fund.

Sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down. We watched the keepers feed a few of them a flower. Not only do Sloths move slowly, they have the slowest metabolism of any mammal. They have a four-chambered stomach that can take up to a month breaking down and digesting tough, fibrous leaves. BBC Earth has more on these fascinating animals.

On one of the last days of our trip, we visited the Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama City. This park is over 550 acres of tropical jungle within the city. Along the trail to the highest point in the park, we saw a Three-toed Sloth. This mother Sloth had a youngster holding on to her belly.

This species of Sloth is called the Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth. It is smaller than the Two-Toed and has a dark eye mask. The Three-toed Sloths are active during the day, while the Two-toed are more active at night.

We actually saw this Sloth moving from one branch to another. One source says that they can move in the trees at a rate of about one foot per ten seconds. Sloths move slowly but they aren’t lazy. For some nice information on why these animals move so slowly, the Sloth Conservation Organization tells us why.

Most of the time the Three-Toed Sloth was hanging upside down with her baby holding on. She did switch up and hang ‘normally’ for a short while.

She quickly resorted to her typical upside down position.

Back at our beach hotel after the walk in the park, I found another Three-toed Sloth resting in a nearby tree.

This sure was a very interesting animal to see in the wild.