The sloths at the Zoo are called "two-toed" sloths because they have two toes on their front feet, each bearing a long claw for grasping tree limbs and such. Two-toed sloths spend practically their entire lives in the trees, and they cannot even walk when on the ground due to the shape of their bodies. They are ideally suited for an arboreal lifestyle. However, they have also been known to swim when necessary!

When conditions are humid, algae may grow on the sloth's fur, resulting in a green appearance, but without algae, a sloth is not green at all!

Where Do Two-Toed Sloths Come From?
The two-toed sloth's natural habitat is the tropical forests of Central America and South America. Though these sloths are not now endangered, it is expected that eventually, habitat destruction will take its toll on these creatures. In addition to this threat, the two-toed sloth's natural predators include jaguars, ocelots, other feline species, and eagles. This, in addition to the sloth's poor adaptability to ground life, is a good reason to stay hidden away in the trees! Luckily, the greenish tinge that algae may provide also affords them camoflage.

What Are Two-Toed Sloths Like?
Sloths have a big reputation for being slow, and this characterization is fairly accurate. They may sleep most of the time, up to 21 hours a day. When they do sleep, they are usually curled in a tight ball, and this may also help give them camoflage by making them resemble some natural object. They move in a slow, deliberate way when they do move, climbing carefully along tree limbs. They are vegetarians, eating leaves and shoots as well as fruit -- they do not have canine teeth, and their "grin" exhibits a large gap in the front. It may take them several weeks to digest a meal, and they only urinate and defecate about once a week.

All this slow movement may have a benefit, though the two-toed sloth can live to an age of about 20 in the wild but may live much longer in captivity, up to 32 years or more. In addition to being arboreal, they are primarily nocturnal (active at night). This makes Crosby's birth even more unusual and exciting, since he was born at about 1pm!