Sloth Conservation in Costa Rica
Who loves a sloth? They are such beautiful animals!
It’s Sloth Tober – a month to celebrate adorable sloths and to raise awareness of some of the problems they face and what’s being done to solve them and how you can help with solutions! And World Sloth Day is on 20th October!
The Sloth Conservation Foundation was founded back in 2017 and they've identified a number of problems and come up with solutions to help sloths and other wildlife! So here are a few ways you can help...
Sloths are losing their homes to urban development. The Sloth Conservation is working to protect the forest, bit by bit to shield it and the ecosystem from development. It believes a strong community based approach is key to reduce the threat of encroachment and to ensure the long term protection of the forest.
Please help protect the forest
USD$50 will protect 10 square metres of primary rainforest. Of course, you can donate more and save more rainforest! All donations go to purchasing and protecting threatened primary rainforest habitat in the South Caribbean region of Costa Rica.
Sloths are suffering on the ground:
The destruction of the sloths’ habitat means that the connectivity between trees is being lost, so sloths have go move around on the ground, and they are vulnerable there. Sadly, many sloths die from being on the road through roadkill, and they are also being killed or injured as a result of stray and domestic dog attacks.
Sloth crossing canopy bridges make it easier for sloths and other wildlife to travel across roads and forest fragments in urban areas
Installing Sloth Crossing wildlife bridges enables the Foundation to restore the connections between habitats and make sure that sloths and other wildlife can navigate their way safely around. Once a bridge has been installed, camera traps are installed so that the Foundation can find out which species are using the bridges. This also means that ecological data and photographic evidence can easily be collected at little cost and least disturbance.
You can donate a bridge for $250, which donation covers the raw materials and installation of a single-rope canopy bridge. You’ll get photos and videos of the installation, and the GPS location via email. You can also donate for a camera trap (the sloth crossing & camera trap is $400) – these help study the use of the bridges. Which animals are using them and how often?
You can plant a tree – it’s $10 for one sloth friendly tree. In doing so, you’re helping to a) provide sloths with safe habitat and food, b) protect biodiversity, and c) help reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. A great way to spend $10!
Plant a tree here.
I love the name of this! The Sloth Conservation Foundation are working hard to tackle the problem of stray dogs who can attack sloths - it's another reason why they want to build sloth canopy bridges, to get the sloths off the ground. The Foundation is working to reduce the number of dog attacks in the South Caribbean by planting trees and installing canopy bridges to connect fragmented habitat, reducing the number of strays by partnering local rescue organisations to fund the sterilisation of stray and rescue dogs, and organisation castration clinics in low income areas. These measure will help the sloths and dogs. Find out more here.
There are plenty of other ways to help and get involved, including
volunteering, fundraising, spreading the word, buying something from the sloth shop,
supporting science, taking a look at the wishlist, becoming a VIP subscriber,
adopting a sloth and simply donating.