International Sloth Day is an annual observance that takes the third Saturday of October. International Sloth Day is the brainchild of AIUNAU, a non-profit organization working for the protection and rehabilitation of wildlife. Habitat loss due to deforestation is the biggest threat to the sloth population. This day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about sloths and the threats these animals are facing.
International Sloth Day will be celebrated on Saturday, October 19, 2024.
Interesting Facts about Sloths
Let’s find out more about the world’s slowest mammal on International Sloth Day.
Sloths spend almost all of their time hanging from branches in the treetops. They rarely come down to the ground where they are easy prey for predators.
Sloths are so used to living their lives in trees that they mate and give birth while hanging in the trees.
Their babies spend nearly the first nine months of their lives clinging and hanging on to their mothers.
These sedentary mammals sleep a lot, some 15 – 20 hours in a day. Even when they are awake they often remain motionless.
They are so slow and inactive that algae grow on their furry coats. Algae works as a useful camouflage for them in the trees.
Sloths are really good swimmers. They use their long arms to swim.
On average, their size ranges from 23 to 27 inches and they can normally weigh up to 18 pounds, with three-toed sloth being smaller in size than its two-toed relative.
They get almost all of the required water through their leafy diet.
Three-toed sloths can turn their heads some 270 degrees. This is because of the extra neck vertebrae that few other mammals possess.
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