Mom pregnant for nearly 12 months finally delivers at Hawaii zoo. See the cute baby
The newest resident of a Hawaii zoo took its time making an arrival.
A baby Linne’s two-toed sloth recently was born to sloth mom Karrie, who was pregnant for nearly 12 months, the Friends of the Pana’ewa Zoo wrote Dec. 3 on Instagram.
The sloth baby, whose name and gender are to be determined, arrived at the Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens on the island of Hawaii before Thanksgiving, and “initial indications are that the baby is doing well,” the group said.
Karrie, who’s a first-time mom, also appears to be doing well and “is taking on her new role with ease, making sure her baby is well-fed and safe,” the group said.
Linne’s two-toed sloths are rainforest dwellers, and – as their name would suggest – they move slowly and spend quite a bit of their time sleeping.
“With two toes on their front feet and three on their back limbs, they are perfectly designed for life in trees,” according to the National Aquarium in Maryland.
They even mate and have their babies upside down, the aquarium said.
It appears the baby sloth in Hawaii will get plenty of cuddle time for a while.
After baby sloths are born, they crawl to their mother’s chests and nurse for about a month, Friends of the Pana’ewa Zoo said. They soon start sampling leaves, and they try out solid foods within a few weeks of being born, the group said.
“Sloths remain riding along with their mother for nearly a year before branching out on their own,” the group said.
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