Helping a sloth return to the wild can take months or even years, depending on its age and individual needs. At the Jaguar Rescue Center, we have rescued more than 2,300 sloths, including both two-fi ngered and three-fi ngered sloths.
Sloths are the main animals we rescue at the center, and the reasons they need our help can vary. Some fall from trees, while others arrive with injuries or have been affected by electrocution.
Every sloth goes through a rehabilitation process before it can return to the wild. Some may simply fall from a tree and spend just one night under observation before returning to the same tree. Others may arrive after being electrocuted and require months of veterinary treatment before they are ready for release. For orphaned sloths, the rehabilitation process can take up to three years.
But what does it take to raise a young sloth and prepare it for life in the wild? Let’s take a closer look at the different stages of the rehabilitation process.
How Does the Process Work?
When a baby sloth fi rst arrives at our center, our veterinary team conducts a thorough check-up. If we know exactly where the baby was found and it is healthy, we use what we call the “Speaker Method.”
This method involves playing the baby sloth’s cries through a speaker near the location where it was found, in the hope of attracting its mother. If the mother does not respond, the baby remains under our care and begins its rehabilitation journey.
Here are the steps a sloth goes through before being rewilded:
Step 1: Nursery
Baby sloths start their journey in our nursery, where they stay from birth until they are around six months old.
Our nursery team provides them with regular feeding, care, and any necessary medication. At this stage, they still need to be fed with a syringe and cannot eat solid food on their own.
As they grow, we gradually introduce leaves into their diet, along with some cooked vegetables.
Step 2: High School
From around six months to one and a half years old, young sloths are raised together and continue developing the skills they will need to survive in the wild. They are moved to a bigger enclosure, and their diet consists primarily of different types of leaves, along with raw vegetables such as carrots and chayote.
Step 3: Pre-release Enclosure
Once a sloth reaches an appropriate weight and size, it is moved to our pre-release enclosure in the forest.
This enclosure gives the sloths the opportunity to adapt to their natural surroundings while having minimal contact with humans. They are fed mainly leaves found in the area where they will eventually be released.
To help us recognize each sloth inside the enclosure, we mark them with colored spray paint in different areas of their fur. The spray gradually fades over time.
Step 4: Preparing for Rewilding
Before a sloth is released, it is fi tted with a microchip so it can be identifi ed in the future.
We also make a small colored thread braid on its back. This helps us identify the sloth in the trees during the fi rst few weeks after release. The braid eventually falls away naturally.
When the day fi nally arrives, the sloths are transported in carrier boxes to the release site. We place the box near a suitable tree, open the door, and let the sloth make its way into the forest.
From there, it begins the next chapter of its life—hopefully in the wild, where it belongs.
Release Considerations
The decision to release a sloth is based on several factors. Our team considers its weight and recent growth, its behavior in the pre-release enclosure, and signs that it has adapted to its natural environment.
We also look for the presence of algae and moths living in its fur, which are natural indicators of a sloth’s relationship with its habitat.
Every sloth follows its own journey. Some return to the wild after just a short stay at the center, while others need months or even years of care and rehabilitation.
Our goal is always the same: to give each sloth the best possible chance of returning to the wild and living independently in its natural habitat.