There are 6 Types of Sloth in the World and Panama Has 3 of Them.
How cool is that? Panama is a tropical paradise with a myriad of fauna. Occasionally sloths show up in our neighborhood using the power lines as highways. These cute and docile animals are tree dwellers who hang around all day eating leaves.
Panama Sloths, Know the Difference.
The 3 Types of Sloth in Panama.
Two Toed Sloth Choloepus Hoffmanni.
The Two Toed Sloth can be found in groups of up to 20 members. They are much more active than the other types of sloths. It only has two claws. They also have a snout that is largely hairless. Two Toed Sloths like to spend their lives upside down hanging from branches. They can live to be 29 years of age females reach mating age at 3 1/2 years and males between 4-5 years. This is the type of sloth we find in our neighborhood.
Three Toed Sloth Bradypus Variegatus.
The Three Toed Sloth has an adorable raccoon face. They are largely sedentary. Three Toed Sloths can literally be found hanging out in one tree for days on end. This sloth literally has a neck on a swivel as it can rotate its head 300 degrees to watch for its arch nemesis the Harpy Eagle. They can live up to 30 years old and begin mating at 3 years.
The Pygmy Sloth Bradypus Pygmaeus.
The Pygmy Sloth can only be found on a few islands of the Bocas del Toro archipelago on the Caribbean side of Panama. They look similar to the full size Three Toed Sloth but are an endangered species. In 2013 the Dallas World Aquarium was stopped from trying to take 8 pygmy sloths from Panama. The people of Panama protested and the animals were released back into the wild.
