Costa Rica News: Baby Sloth Depends on Stuffed Animal for Emotional Support
In order to avert its overdependence on humans and give it a better chance of survival once it is released in its natural habitat, an orphaned baby sloth is given stuffed animal by the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica.
More often than not, the Sloth sanctuary provides stuffed toys to the rescued sloths that have been turned over to them. This practice is not only meant to prevent too much bonding with humans but is also a way of providing them emotional support.
In the case of Ash, she often clings onto the stuffed animal when she feeds on the goat milk in a bottle given to her, said the Sloth Sanctuary.
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"Nature is changing around us, and we ideally do not want these rescued sloths to be dependent on human care," goes the post of the Sloth Sanctuary on their website.
Ash found her way to the sanctuary after she was seen tumbling out of an almond tree by a couple. As the two could not find the poor animal's mother, they took it upon themselves to pick up the baby sloth and drive her to the Sloth Sanctuary, which is roughly a 30-minute drive from where she was rescued.
When Ash was assessed after she was brought to sanctuary, it was found out that she was generally in good health despite being somehow dehydrated.
According to the Sloth Sanctuary, the light color of Ash's coat is a clear indication that the rescued animal is still young, making her vulnerable to hypothermia. The Sloth Sanctuary also gave some interesting trivia on sloths in general, saying that it is normal for mother sloths to abandon their babies, either because of overpopulation or insufficient food supply.
The Sloth Sanctuary also revealed that many of those sloths that have been rescued and eventually released in their natural habitat don't survive due to the stress caused by their new environment. With this, they can only hope that Ash will not suffer the same fate with that of the others of her kind with the help of the stuffed animal that gives her emotional support.
