Celebrate International Sloth Day at Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa Guests are invited to visit Jambo Junction on October 22 to celebrate International Sloth Day. Activities will be held by the sloth’s habitat.
Sloths are part of a group of animals called Xenarthrans, which also includes anteaters and armadillos. There are 2 species of two-toed sloths and 4 species of three-toed sloths around the world. Sloths are found high in the trees where they spend about 20 hours resting, eight hours of which can be sleeping.

Sloths are herbivores and love to eat leaves, fruits, and vegetables, with occasional insects or eggs. They come down out of the trees only once or twice a week to urinate and defecate.

Earlier this year, Busch Gardens celebrated the birth of two baby sloths: Koda, a male Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth, was born on March 24, and Yiscel, a female Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth, was born on April 2.

Now at six months old, both babies are healthy, active, and practicing climbing on their own. They are also trying out new foods: Yiscel’s favorite foods include mango and sweet potato; Koda seems to prefer papaya and cooked carrots.

The SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund supports projects like the Asociacion Panamericana Para la Conservacion (APPC) in Panama. Sloths in the wild can be located close to human areas and are at risk of habitat loss, being hit by traffic, or taken illegally for the pet trade. The APPC rescues, rehabilitates, and releases many wildlife species, including sloths, armadillos, anteaters and monkeys. Check out the recent Facebook live video we did earlier today in Panama below. Our zoo team is currently down there helping out the organization.

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