Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomes baby sloth just in time for new year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is celebrating the arrival of a New Year's baby: a Hoffmann's two-toed sloth!
The zoo said the baby, born on Dec. 18, seems strong and has spent the past two weeks learning to traverse Mom’s tummy. While its mom, Aysan, hangs upside down, the baby can be found sprawled right-side-up on her belly, its four long limbs wrapped around her torso.
“Aysan has been a great first-time mom, grooming the baby by licking its face, which is so sweet," Amber Callen-Ward, lead keeper in Scutes Family Gallery, said. "She and the baby have been bonding well. The baby is nursing, clinging to her and taking little bites of solid foods we offer.”
The zoo said the two-week-old sloth is already trying pieces of plantain, romaine lettuce, zucchini and cucumber, but still gets its main source of nutrients from nursing.
9-year-old Aysan's care team had been monitoring the baby's development via ultrasounds and X-rays over the past few months. She moved to CMZoo on a breeding recommendation by the Hoffmann’s Two-Toed Sloth Species Survival Plan, with Bosco, the Zoo’s long-time male sloth, in June 2023.
Bosco, a 32-year-old male Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth, became a second-time dad with the baby’s arrival. His first daughter, 5-year-old Bean, lives with him in The Loft at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
While Aysan and her brand-new baby bond, they’ll stay behind the scenes in Scutes Family Gallery. CMZoo said the baby’s sex has not yet been identified, and there are no plans for a name just yet.
