Sloths

Meet the sloth, the world’s most relaxed creature! While other animals are busy rushing, racing, and chasing, the sloth is perfectly happy taking life in ultra-slow motion.

Sloths live high up in the treetops of the Central and South American rainforests. In fact, they spend almost their whole lives hanging upside down from branches—they even sleep, eat, and give birth right there in the air!

Sloths look a bit like a mix between a small bear and a monkey, but with a few very special features that help them live in the trees:

• The Ultimate Coat Hooks: Instead of paws, sloths have long, curved claws that act like perfect hooks. Their grip is so strong that their muscles lock into place, allowing them to hang upside down from a branch without using any energy at all.
• A Permanent Smile: Many sloths have dark patches around their eyes that look like a cool superhero mask, paired with a facial shape that makes them look like they are always wearing a gentle, peaceful smile.
• Green Fur? Because sloths move so slowly in a damp rainforest, tiny green plants called algae actually grow right inside their coarse fur! This turns their coat a greenish-brown color, which works like a super-powered camouflage jacket to hide them from predators like jaguars and harpy eagles.
• Surprising Swimmers: Even though they are slow on land and in the trees, sloths are surprisingly great swimmers! If they drop from a branch into a river, they can use their long arms to do a doggy-paddle style stroke and move three times faster in the water than they do on land.