A Sloth Eats Superman

If you’re visiting Costa Rica and are interested in seeing a sloth, you’re in the right place.

These cute and cuddly animals are trendy because of media awareness about their slow-moving lifestyle. Sloths are plentiful in Costa Rica but aren’t always easy to spot with the untrained eye. Even for those seeking Adventure tours.

And Superman sometimes shows up in the local high school's cafeteria. And Sloth has sloth arms, which means that Pride is the most demon-like Sin of them all, with massive, bat-like wings. Part 2: https://youtu.be/9-ZYZdEN4g4.

Lucy – sloth sleeping at Diamante Eco Adventure Park

There are many places for “Sloth Sightings” in Costa Rica. Several national parks have sloths, but many people elect to visit animal sanctuaries like Diamante Eco Adventure Park located in Guanacaste, located between Playas del Coco and Tamarindo, right next to RIU hotel. Please make sure ICT, CST, and MINAE certify any animal rescue center you visit.

Diamante works closely with Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environmental and Energy (MINAE), who is responsible for all rescue animals in Costa Rica. They also have dedicated animal specialists, nutritionists, and veterinarians on site. Diamante Eco Adventure Park’s sloth habitat is open, easy to see, and allows for up-close viewing without disturbing the sloths. Make sure to ask about Lucy.

Sloths are very delicate creatures due to their slow metabolism.

Here are a few tidbits that make sloths both intriguing and mysterious:

• They appear to be very lazy. They do practically nothing but sleep and eat. Studies show that they require almost two weeks to digest a meal fully. They’ve evolved to do less, rather than to eat more. This is the main reason for their 20-hour naps. Sloths sleep up to 23 hours a day and only wake up to eat and move to find more to eat.
• Their food consists mostly of branches, leaves (their favorite ones are the of the cecropia trees), buds, and sometimes different insects.
• They are not predators, and almost in the same way, they have few predators. Sloth’s main dangers are the wildcats and eagles. However, their color gives them excellent camouflage, making them challenging to find.
• The Costa Rican sloths are not in danger, but other species such as the Brazilian and the Pygmy sloth of neighbor country, Panama, are endangered.
• There are six types of sloths in the world, and Costa Rica is home to two species, the two-toed, and the three-toed. Two-toed are nocturnal, and three-toed are diurnal (meaning they are awake in the daytime).
• Sloths have babies that stay on their backs for up to 9 months. Baby sloths are by far one of the cutest animals on the planet!

Sloth eating upside down

• Sloths eat hanging upside down. The enzymes in their stomachs work better in this position to digest their food.
• Despite its laziness, the sloths are fantastic swimmers.
• The sloths are related to armadillos and anteaters.
• The wild sloth can live up to 12 years.
• Believe it or not, the sloths risk their lives to poop. Once a week, they descend to poop, and here it is when they risk their lives, as being exposed in the ground. The reason why they do that is still a mystery for biologists.
• Their fur works as an ecosystem as it supports different colonies of algae and moths.
• It can take up to 30 days to completely digest one leaf, and they never eat too many leaves from the same tree to avoid poisoning themselves.
• The fungus in their fur can cure cancer, according to recent investigations.

When traveling to Costa Rica, make sure to have “sloth sighting” on your “must-do” list for activities in Costa Rica. You’ll be fascinated with their unique lifestyle and smiling faces. Pura Vida!

Diamante Eco Adventure Park is home to three beautiful sloths at our Animal Sanctuary. They are Lucy, Mia and Gilbert. They are two-toed sloths, one of the two species of sloths in Costa Rica. Sloths are masters of camouflage and are hard to spot in the wild. At our Costa Rica Sloth Sanctuary they enjoy an open habitat which makes it easier to see them up close. We also do daily feedings and it is the best way to see them moving! Keep reading to know all the basics about these beautiful creatures and how to see sloths in Costa Rica!

Gilbert being his silly-smiley self!

NAME

The word “sloth” is first found in the twelfth century meaning “laziness”. “Sloth” is also an adjective for slow. Their scientific genus “bradypus” means “slow feet”. So it made a fitting name for this magnificent creature when they were discovered. In fact the only time they have bursts of speed is during emergency flights. And swimming! They are surprisingly good swimmers with their long arms and legs.

SPECIES

There are two species of sloths: two-toed and three-toed. Although the name is misleading given that all sloths have three toes. Actually the species name refers to the number of fingers. But two-toed sounds way better than two-finger! So let’s not duel on that. Their main physical differentiation, apart from the fingers, is their coloration (At least for the two species of sloths in Costa Rica). Three-toed sloths tend to be a grey color, with a white face mask that makes them look smiley all the time. Two toed sloths tend to be more beige to brown and lack the face mask but still offer a great smile. Three-toed sloths also possess an extra cervical allowing them to turn their head 270 degrees! Also three-toed sloths are diurnal while two-toed are nocturnal.

Mia working on her summer tan while taking a well deserved nap.

PHYSIOLOGY

Sloths have many physiological adaptations that allow them to live an upside down life. First their fur grows in a direction away from their extremities. This allows the water to run through them when it rains. Also their fur hosts symbiotic algae that turn their coloring green-ish. Hence it provides great camouflage from predators. Second their claws have evolved to support their hanging position from the trees and spend zero energy. Their grip strength is such that very little can bring them down. Third, their organs are literally attached to their body. This is the main reason they can live upside down. The adaptation makes it possible for them to breathe because their lungs are not crush by the other organs.

DIET

A Sloth Eats Superman Comic

Surprisingly, sloths idleness is due to a metabolic adaptation because of their diet. Sloth’s main diet consists of leaves which provide little energy and are hard to digest; so one meal for them will take up to a month to digest fully. As their diet provides little energy they need to conserve their strength for necessary movement and metabolic needs. Three-toed sloths in Costa Rica actually eat one specific type of leave found in the central and south pacific and Caribbean. In fact, their metabolic system is so slow that they only “go to the bathroom” once a week if they do. And that is also the only time a sloth will descend from their trees.

It is said that this behavior is due to safety reasons. There is a theory that sloths go down because they do not want their feces to make any sound when dropping from up high for fear of giving up their hiding place to predators.

Our sloths are fed daily at 9:30Am, 12:30PM and 3:30PM – come visit and do not miss out on the sloth feeding!

HABITAT

Sloths can be found throughout Central and South America. They usually prefer the rain and cloud forests. Sloths in Costa Rica can be found in large numbers in the Caribbean side (Limon) and in the Central and South Pacific (Manuel Antonio National Park is a gold mine!). They are solitary creatures and the closest relationship they have is when mating or sharing a tree to sleep! Sloths often prefer to have an entire tree to themselves, but they have no problem sharing. Their natural predators are eagles, jaguars, ocelots and some snakes.

Lucy giving out love to the world

WHERE TO SEE SLOTHS IN COSTA RICA?

A Sloth Eats Superman Meme

If you are looking to find the slow smiley sloths in the Costa Rican wild, we would recommend going to National Parks. Manuel Antonio, Tortuguero, Puerto Viejo or the Osa Peninsula are great places! But be sure to go with a natural guide, given that they are very good at camouflage and it might be difficult to spot them. So if you really want to see them, we also recommend coming to an Animal Sanctuary that hosts them.

If you want to come visit Lucy, Mia and Gilbert at Diamante Eco Adventure Park here are your options:

• Discovery Pass ($42): Enter our Animal Sanctuary and meet our wildlife family: Lucy the sloth, Nico & Sama the jaguars, Balu the white faced monkey, King Julian our largest iguana and many more!
• Adventure Pass ($118): experience the full zip line tour plus one extra cable that runs through our animal sanctuary and a hanging bridge over the crocodiles! Finish the tour inside of our top of class animal sanctuary and enjoy our wildlife family. This pass also includes a buffet lunch at the Welcome Center and access to our beach activities (stand up paddle board, snorkeling, kayak and hanging out at the hammocks).

A Sloth Eats Superman Costume

Don’t miss out on getting to know the sloths in Costa Rica! Experience the best Costa Rica tour while getting to see these smiley faces!

A Sloth Eats Superman Gif

Pura Vida!