Predators: The jaguar and harpy eagle are the main predators of sloths. It eats leaves, tender young shoots, and fruit. Instead, get your fix by visiting sloths at the SmithsonianвЂ™s National Zoo or taking home a sloth plush through the Adopt a Species program.Behavior: The sloth is an herbivore (a plant-eater) that eats at night. Their unique diet, lifestyle and health needs require specialized care. Sloths may be amazing and adorable but, like other exotic animals, they donвЂ™t make good pets. TheyвЂ™re also impacted by wildlife trafficking. Supporting the responsible use of resources (like choosing Smithsonian Bird Friendly Coffee) can help protect them from habitat loss. Sloths live in rainforests, where habitat destruction is a serious threat. TheyвЂ™re mostly nocturnal, sleeping during the daytime and waking up at night to eat. True to their name, sloths sleep for about 15 hours a day. So long, in fact, that a sloth usually only climbs down from its tree about once a week to poop! How much do sloths sleep? It takes a long time for a sloth to digest its leafy diet. They lap dew drops off of leaves and fruits, and get additional water from their food.Дid you know that a slothвЂ™s teeth grow continuously throughout its life? As sloths chomp on plants, their teeth get worn down, which prevents them from getting too long. Though mostly herbivorous, they may occasionally snack on a larval insect or other passive, protein-packed snack (like a bird egg). Sloths eat leaves, fruit and some select fresh green shoots (theyвЂ™re not keen on crunchy twigs). TheyвЂ™re not much to look at, but three-toed sloths do have short, stubby tails. Jaguars and eagles are common predators of sloths. This little ecosystem created by the algae is so unique that some species, like the sloth moth, live exclusively on sloth fur! So, do sloths have predators? The green tint of the algae helps sloths blend in to their leafy surroundings, but it also invites ticks, mites, beetles, moths and other creepy crawlies to the party. Each strand of a slothвЂ™s coarse fur has grooves that run from top to bottom where two types of blue-green algae grow. And despite their slow movements, sloths are surprisingly strong.ДЄnd there are other reasons not to snuggle up to a sloth. However, when threatened, they can use their 3- to 4-inch-long claws and teeth to defend themselves. Sloths typically rely on their camouflage to protect themselves from predators. But if you do, like any wild animal, itвЂ™s best to keep your distance.

In all seriousness, youвЂ™re unlikely to cross paths with a sloth in the wild (they rarely leave their treetop hideouts). Sloths will sleep, eat, mate and even give birth upside down! Why are sloths so slow? They live high in the trees of tropical rainforests, where they spend most of their time curled up or hanging upside down from branches. Sloths are found throughout Central America and northern South America, including parts of Brazil and Peru. Sloths actually belong to the superorder Xenarthra and the order Pilosa, with a family tree that includes anteaters and armadillos. But sloths and koalas developed these traits independently of each other. Koalas, for example, are marsupials that live in trees, eat leaves and have slow metabolisms. Sloths are mammals, but they arenвЂ™t primates or marsupials вЂ“ though the groups do share some similarities. Two-toed sloths are also slightly bigger than their three-toed pals. But two-toed sloths only have two toes on their front feet, whereas three-toed sloths (you guessed it) have three.

Truth be told, all sloths have three toes on their back feet. There are two living families of sloths: two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths.

Three toed sloth