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Sloth Fact File

Sloths inhabit various types of forests in the Amazon and spend most of their time in the canopy. They primarily eat leaves, fruit, and buds from the Cecropia tree and have strong claws for defense and climbing. Female sloths give birth to one offspring annually, nursing it for six weeks while introducing solid food early on.

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Karen Kruse
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20 views2 pages

Sloth Fact File

Sloths inhabit various types of forests in the Amazon and spend most of their time in the canopy. They primarily eat leaves, fruit, and buds from the Cecropia tree and have strong claws for defense and climbing. Female sloths give birth to one offspring annually, nursing it for six weeks while introducing solid food early on.

Uploaded by

Karen Kruse
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Fact file

SLOTHS
Where it lives in the rainforest:
Three-toed sloths inhabit forests of many types including cloud and lowland
tropical forest in the Amazon, though they also occasionally reside in cacao plantations.
They spend most of their time hanging from branches high up in the rainforest canopy.

How it survives:
The sloth has very long, sharp, and strong claws that they use to hold on to tree branches. The
claws are also their only natural defense against predators.

What it eats:
Sloths mainly eat the tree buds, new shoots, fruit and leaves, of the Cecropia tree. Some two-
toed sloths also eat insects, small reptiles, and birds.

Lifecycle:
An adult female produces about one offspring a year. She nurses it for six weeks but begins
giving the baby leaves by the time it is two weeks old. The mother carries the baby for about six
months, showing it the trees and lianas she feeds on.

‘WOW’ facts:

 It used to be thought sloths slept for 15 to 20 hours a day. However, its


now believed they only sleep around 10 hours a day.

 Sloths usually only leave the tree they live in to go to the toilet once a week on
the ground.
 A sloth can lose one-third of its body weight from pooping, and that amount of
faeces is no fun to push out. You can watch their stomachs physically shrink
as they poo.

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