Watch a Sloth Make the Whole Police Force Wait Patiently

In this charming short vid, we see police officers patiently standing on guard as a sloth makes its way across a road. Progress is painfully slow, as you would expect from sloths who are known for taking life very easy. These fascinating mammals are found in areas of Central America and South America where they spend most of their time living in trees. Their preference is the tall trees in rain, cloud and mangrove forests. Some individuals can spend their entire life in the tree in which they were born but others try out a couple of trees over their lifetime. This sums up their way of life which is extremely laid-back! These guys can spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping.

The Slow Sloth

Even when sloths are awake they will cover less than 50 yards foraging for food. Their favorite diet is leaves and twigs from the cecropia tree but they also enjoy fruit. Some will eat insects and even small lizards.  On the whole, their diet is fairly low in nutrition and they digest it very slowly – it can take them a month to digest their food.

They probably get their slow nature from their slow metabolism combined with a lack of energy caused by a pretty poor diet. Although having a low body temperature (74 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit) does not help with speed!

Sloths Leaving Their Trees

There are only a few things that will coax a sloth from their tree. The individual in this footage may need to take a poop. This is a big deal for a sloth – they only poop once a week and lose a third of their body weight when they do. It happens so infrequently because they are very vulnerable when on the ground and can be picked off by predators such as eagles, snakes, and jaguars. They may also be looking for a mate or expanding their territory. Sloths live solitary lives and only meet up with others to reproduce.

The police officers are obviously kind and caring individuals who are protecting this lovely creature as they cross the road and are keeping their distance so as not to cause it any stress. These days sloths are facing a lot of challenges because their habitats are being destroyed by human infrastructure, tourism and the pet trade but so far the sloth population is still thriving in most areas.

It is sensible to keep your distance from a sloth! They have very long arms and sharp claws and when they feel threatened they will defend themselves by taking a swipe. They will also bite and grab onto their attacker. Because sloths eat poison ivy, any animal that eats them is exposed to the toxin and often dies themselves because their throat swells and they cannot breathe. However, you will never see a sloth seeking out a human to attack them, they simply can’t be bothered!

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