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COSTA RICA |
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Orphaned Baby Sloths Get An Assist From
Costa Rica Sanctuary
By Lindsay Barnett, LA Times
Talk about specialized -- the Aviarios Sloth
Sanctuary in Costa Rica rescues and
rehabilitates sloths, sloths and only
sloths. Back in 1992 neighbors of the
sanctuary's bird-enthusiast founders brought
an orphaned baby three-toed sloth to their
doorstep.
With little information available about
caring for sloths, the fine folks of
Aviarios made things up as they went along,
successfully hand-raising the baby they
named Buttercup.
After that, the sloths just kept on coming.
So far, Aviarios has hand-raised more than
100 baby sloths and helped many more adult
sloths recover from illness and injury at
its wonderfully named Slothpital facility.
(Since sloths are slow-moving -- so
slow-moving that algae even grows on their
fur -- it's not uncommon for them to be
injured by cars.) Sloth orphans like the
astoundingly cute creatures above get great
care at the Slothpital and, thanks to
Aviarios, they have great lives to look
forward to.
Aviarios offers tours to the public -- and
sloth fans can even "adopt" an animal, with
their financial contributions funding
further care and conservation efforts for
Costa Rica's sloths.
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