Zoo visitor captures incredible moment sloth gives birth

When Erica Huggins and her family arrived for their first visit to Drusillas Zoo Park in Sussex, they hoped to be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the sloths, but what happened far exceeded expectations as they witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime event – the incredible birth of a baby sloth.

On 23rd August, Erica, her husband and their two children were exploring the zoo’s walk-through enclosure when ex-veterinary nurse Erica noticed a ‘glistening’ whilst admiring the sloths and was quick to pull out her camera to capture the amazing moment.

Erica commented: “The process was extremely quick lasting a few minutes at most. I noticed a strange glistening membrane at the sloth's rear, so I stayed to investigate. As I turned to get a better view, I noticed her push out the baby, which was still within her amniotic sac, the mother quickly turned licked off the membrane and started to care for her baby.”

Sloth pregnancies are notoriously difficult to predict due to the anatomy of the sloth keeping abdomen swelling to a minimum and famously spend most of their time curled up in a big, hairy ball, so keepers at Drusillas (many of whom have worked with sloths for decades) have not themselves witnessed a sloth being born.”

Erica continued; “It was a privilege to witness the birth, the event has ignited a newfound admiration of sloths. My husband and I feel absolutely delighted to witness such a rare and important event. We hope mother and baby are doing well.”

The new arrival is especially precious to the team at Drusillas who sadly and suddenly lost their infant sloth, Athena, at just six months old last year. The zoo now holds five Linne’s two-toed sloths, including seven-year-old Flash who was hand-reared by the Park’s resident sloth specialists, Mark Kenward and Gemma Romanis.

The delightful youngster is already becoming a highlight for visitors lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her peacefully snuggled into mum, in one of the Zoos walkthrough enclosures.

As part of their commitment to conservation, in particular the conservation of sloths in the wild, Drusillas proudly supports The Sloth Conservation Foundation.