International Sloth Day

We bet you didn’t know there is an entire day dedicated to sloths? These slow-moving animals, although cute, have become the synonym of laziness and negligence.

Learn all the interesting things you need to know about these arboreal mammals and the International Sloth Day, which is observed annually on October 20th.

International Sloth Day

International Sloth Day was founded in 2010 by a wildlife-based non-governmental organization in Colombia.
International Sloth Day can be recognized by learning more about sloths, visiting them in zoos or becoming involved with organizations dedicated to their preservation such as AIUNAU, founders of this international day.
Any activity dedicated to preserving South American rainforests is ideal practice in recognition of this day as such are sloths’ natural habitats. International Sloth Day can also be recognized by using the occasion to just kick back and relax like the sloth!

Fun Facts about Sloths

Sloths are native to the rainforests of Central and South America. Their regions include parts of Mexico, Brazil and the Caribbean.
Being that they live in rainforests, deforestation threatens the existence of sloths. This is exacerbated by the fact that these mammals have low birth rates.
Sloths tend to live alone, only having company briefly during mating seasons or for the first few months of a baby sloth’s life, when it clings to its mother for survival and learning the ropes of sloth life.

Sloths can eat and digest toxic leaves that other animals cannot.
Algae and fungi that grow on sloth fur may be used in the future to combat human diseases, including cancer. This algae also allows them to camouflage well in trees.
In addition to algae and fungi, sloths have symbiotic insects that live in their fur.
Sloths spend virtually their entire lives hanging upside down from tree limbs.
It can take a sloth from a month up to 50 days to digest a single meal. Their diet consists mostly of leaves.
The world consists of approximately six different species of sloths.
Sloths come in two families, two-toed and three-toed.
The common evolutionary ancestor of twoand three-toed sloths split into the two different families approximately 40 million years ago. Two-toed sloths are a little bit bigger than their three-toed cousins.
It is estimated that sloths have been on Earth for 64 million years, whereas modern humans are generally believed to only have existed for about 200-300 thousand years.
Sloths are among the slowest-moving, idlest creatures on Earth. They typically travel less than 125 feet daily, and their ground speed is only one foot per minute.
The three-toed sloth holds the individual distinction of being the slowest-moving mammal.
The sloth’s infamously slow movements are said to have evolved from its diet of leaves, which contain low energy.

Hey, chill and hang out. It's international sloth day. — Hey, chill and hang out. It’s international sloth day.

Sloths use camouflage and extremely-slow movements to hide from predators.
Another defense mechanism sloths have against predators is that they tend not to project a body odor.
Of all mammals that do not hibernate, sloths have the slowest metabolism.
The sloths’ slow metabolism means they can survive on little food, an attribute that comes in handy during droughts.
Sloths are renowned for their sleeping capabilities, and a sloth held in captivity can sleep over 15 hours a day!
Sloths sleep mostly in the day and forage mostly at night.
There is actually a Sloth Appreciation Society founded by renowned zoologist Lucy Cooke. According to the Society’s website, Lucy Cooke is on a one-woman crusade to get the world to slow down and idolize the sloth, rather than the cheetah.
Some species of sloth has gone extinct, such as the ground sloths, which could grow to the size of an elephant!
Sloths are evolutionary related to anteaters and armadillos.
Sloths generally grow between two and two-and-a-half feet and can weigh up to 17 pounds.

Famous Quotes

You know, sloth is a sin, he says softly. I prefer to think of it as an adorable animal. Ella James
A sloth once whispered in my ear and told me that when he is clinging to branches he closes his eyes and imagines that he is still holding on to his mama. Ann Burton
I’ve got more in common with a three-toed sloth than I have with Winston Churchill. Boris Johnson
My zoology thesis was a functional analysis of the thyroid gland of the three-toed sloth. I chose the sloth because of its demeanor calm, quiet and introspective did something to soothe my shattered self. Yann Martel
Because sloths’ metabolisms are so slow, they don’t exhibit many external signs of stress, and it can be hard to determine their mood. Ann Burton
The sloth spends his entire life upside down. He is perfectly comfortable that way. If the blood rushes to his head nothing happens because there is nothing to work on. Will Cuppy
I love to sleep. My astrological sign is the sloth. Julie Schumacher
My absolute favorite piece of information is the fact that young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs and fall out of trees. Douglas Adams
Sloths move at the speed of congressional debate but with greater deliberation and less noise. P.J. O’Rourke
Every move a sloth makes is with purpose, which is more than most of us can say about 90% of the time. Ann Burton
The point of sloths is to bring a sense of wonder, magic and happiness to all other species. Did you know that every other animal’s favorite animal is the sloth? Ann Burton
Sloths are the new kittens. Washington Post
As for hearing, the sloth is not so much deaf as uninterested in sound. Yann Martel
The more I think about it, the more there is to be said for the sloth. He sleeps 15 to 18 hours a day and is known for taking 48 days to travel four miles. He hangs in the trees after he’s dead. But he lives longer than the cheetah. Erma Bombeck
Sloths have low metabolisms, so they have to move slowly in order to conserve energy. However they aren’t aimless or lazy, and they actually move around quite a lot just very, very slowly. Ann Burton