Step aside, Super Bowl puppies. Our attention for cute baby animals is currently being consumed by the Denver Zoo’s latest arrival: a two-week-old baby Linne’s two-toed sloth. And according to Twitter, this new arrival is a bigger deal than meeting POTUS.
Sloth genders are hard to identify because you can’t see their genitals. The gender of this newborn will be revealed later this month.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
Jessi Freeman, Denver Zoo float zookeeper, says this is the third baby from sloth parents Charlotte and Elliot. Freeman is responsible for caring for the animals in the Tropical Discovery building, which includes preparing for feeding the baby sloth their steamed sweet potato diet. For now, the baby enjoys Mom’s milk.
Charlotte, the baby sloth’s mother, gets some sustenance from her favorite snacks, pear and corn on the cob, while baby sleeps.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
“There is such excitement and anticipation around babies, especially from the volunteers,” Freeman says. “As soon as the announcement goes out, people want to know when. Babies are always the highlight at the zoo.”
Inside the sloth habitat at the Denver Zoo, Charlotte and her baby enjoy snuggling up for naps inside their crate.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
As far as the baby bump watch, well, there wasn’t one. It’s pretty hard to tell if a sloth is pregnant. The zoo was preparing for the baby sloth to arrive in October, but it was instead born on January 26. Freeman says the zoo watches for copulation, and Charlotte also has monthly ultrasounds to look for pregnancy. Charlotte, who normally weighs about 17 pounds, only gained 2-3 pounds during pregnancy.
Charlotte keeps an eye out for more snacks of pear and corn on the cob inside the sloth exhibit at Denver Zoo.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
Gender reveal
So is this baby a boy or a girl? Freeman says sloth genders are hard to identify because you can’t see their genitals. The zoo recently sent in a hair sample, and while they now know the gender, it won’t be revealed to the public until later this month. The Denver Zoo, a nonprofit, will pair the gender reveal with a naming contest fundraiser. Coloradans will be encouraged to submit names along with a small donation toward the care of the zoo’s animals. (Personally, we love the name Westword.)
The baby sloth nestles into mom, Charlotte, in the Tropical Discovery building at the Denver Zoo.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
Zoo visitors can spot the baby sloth clinging to mom for about 6-9 months. Charlotte, named after Princess Charlotte of Wales, came to the Denver Zoo in 2015 after confiscation from the illegal pet trade. Freeman says Elliot had a similar situation when he came to the zoo in 2007.
Elliot, the baby sloth’s dad, sleeps in a tree inside the sloth habitat at Denver Zoo.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
Where are Charlotte and Elliot’s other two sloth babies? Baby Ruth now lives at the Dallas World Aquarium, and Wookie still lives at the Denver Zoo as an animal ambassador.
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