Two-toed sloth release at the FCRE

Today was a very good day.  We were able to release a rehabbed sloth on the FCRE property where it should find plenty of great habitat.  Max the Sloth came to us from Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary, which does a fantastic job of rehabbing injured animals and then releasing them back into the forest.

https://alturaswildlifesanctuary.org/

​Max was brought to Alturas in pretty bad shape.  His right hind foot was heavily damaged and infected, and after a long time under veterinary care he ended up with an amputated right foot and had put back on a kilo of weight.  He showed that he could easily get around and climb even missing the foot and was ready to be released.

​Loyal Clarke brought Max over around lunch time, and he (the sloth not Loyal) proceeded to sleep in his cage while we picked the exact release point and had a wonderful lunch prepared by Marianela.  We decided that a spot along the Phyllobates Trail would be perfect.  Max was loaded into the UTV and Greddy drove Loyal and the sloth up to the trailhead.

Max getting a ride from Greddy. The rest of us had to walk

Sloths are notoriously slow.  In Spanish they are called "oso perezoso" which means lazy bear.  Even the word sloth means laziness.  But that doesn't mean a sloth is a weakling!  These are powerful animals and need to be shown a lot of respect when handling them.  In this case we let the professional, Loyal, do all the handling.  Which in the end isn't all that much, as one of the premises for the rehabbing is to keep the animal wild and not treat it like a pet so it doesn't get used to being around people.

​Up at the chosen tree Loyal took Max out of his cage and we all got a great close up look at a truly gorgeous animal.  But it was quick, as Max was immediately placed up against the tree and he grabbed it right away.  Pretty clear he was fired up to be getting back into the forest.

Loyal keeps close tabs on Max right at the release.

You never know just what an animal is going to do at a release.  In this case, max was quite intent on returning to the canopy where sloths tend to be.  In his slow, methodical sloth fashion he climbed right up the tree and into the canopy.

Max climbing after a successful rehab and release

It really wasn't all that long before he was up high and pretty hard to see anymore.  We eventually headed out and back down the hill and on the next thing.  But we'll be keeping an eye out in that area for the next few days to see if we can spot Max.