Two animals at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica (Picture: Discovery Communications)

Today is the beginning of Sloth Week.

It means six days of online videos of cute sloths from the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica. You can check out all the info on it here at SlothWeek.com.

But what is it about sloths that makes them so intriguing? And such an internet hit?

Sloth expert Becky Cliffe, a British zoologist working at the sanctuary in Costa Rica, explained: ‘It is a combination of their strangeness, their permanent enigmatic smiles and their unbelievably cute babies that have made for the perfect internet-hit combination.


‘Aside from the heart-melting cuteness, sloths have so many unusual traits that make them fascinating. They are so unlike every other mammal in so many ways, yet they have been very poorly studied in the past. We are only just beginning to understand how amazing these animals are, and we still have so much to learn.’



What we do know about sloths, however, is pretty interesting.

1. Sloths used to be gigantic

The prehistoric sloth Megatherium wasn’t small and cute – he was about six or seven metres tall and weighed between four and seven tonnes.

2. ALL sloths have three toes on each foot

There are two types of sloth – the two-toed sloth and the slightly smaller and slower three-toed sloth. However, all sloths have three toes. The difference is the two-toed sloth has two fingers on each hand.

(Picture: ZSL London Zoo)

3. Sloths love the water

Instead of staying in the trees all the time, sloths also enjoy a dip and are excellent swimmers – they can hold their breath underwater for up to 40 minutes.

4. Sloths don’t stink

Sloths don’t sweat and have no body odour, which helps them avoid predators.

5. Sloths are sleepy

But not as much as we may think. While sloths in captivity can sleep for up to 20 hours a day, according to the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany, those in the wilds of Central and South America only need eight or nine hours a day – a bit like us.

6. Sloths hate The Eagles

No, not the band The Eagles, but harpy eagles, one of their two predators in the animal kingdom, the other being the jaguar. Harpy eagles have such strong eyesight and such strong claws that they can spot a sloth in a tree, swoop in and take it from the branches, killing it instantly.

7. Sloths see the world differently

Sloths spend almost all of their time in the trees of rainforests and almost always they hang upside down. According to a study carried out by Swansea University, they are able to do this because their internal organs are fixed to the rib cage to stop them weighing down on their lungs.

(Picture: Action Press/REX)

MORE: 24 pictures of smiling sloths that will make your day infinitely better

8. Sloths can hold it in

Sloths only defecate once a week and it is the only reason they leave the trees for the ground. Well, have you ever tried doing a Number 2 in a tree? Sloths can lose up to a third of their body weight by going to the toilet.

9. Sloths are slow, but their insides are even slower



If your sausage and bacon breakfast is taking a little longer than usual to move its way down your tummy, spare a thought for the poor sloth – it takes him 30 days to digest just one leaf.

(Picture: Channel 5)

10. Sloths are cute

FACT. An obvious fact, but a fact nonetheless.

(Picture: Discovery Communications)