NEW BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A Massachusetts zoo is celebrating the first-ever birth of a baby sloth in its 127-year history.
The baby, a Hoffman two-toed sloth, was born at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford on June 22, 2021, officials announced in a news release.
Parents Sandy and Bernardo are both doing well.
The baby will cling tightly to Sandy’s fur and will remain near its mother for around a year, according to the zoo.
Officials say zoo staff will continue to monitor the baby’s growth with weekly weight checks and will eventually determine the sex, which can be an incredibly tricky process in sloths.
“Sandy is doing a great job,” said Jessica Martinho, one of the Zookeepers who cares for the sloths. “She is sleeping and eating; the baby is nursing – both are doing exactly what they should be doing.”
Sloths do mostly everything upside down high up in the trees, including eating, sleeping, mating, and giving birth.
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