As you know The Tree Shirt House enjoys finding all sorts of fascinating creatures to help and get inspiration from. But only one of these animals was named after one of the seven deadly sins in consequence of his laid-back attitude and slow demeanor. I’m sure you can take a guess but if you can’t you might want to Google Sid from Ice Age.
The Sloth. The Sloth is that funny disproportionate looking animal with long dangly arms, a fat belly and a tiny oval shaped face like a rugby ball. He makes most of us giggle through its’ sluggish nature; however, unfortunately on a more serious note, few know that certain species of sloths will no longer amuse us, as they are disappearing.
This is the case for the Tree Shirt House’s friend the three toed pygmy sloth.
Native of the Isla Escudo de Veraguas in Panama, this recently discovered species in 2001 is a dwarf compared with its mainland relatives.
A fascinating aspect of the three toed pygmy sloth and its relatives, is its choice of lifestyle. Us humans would probably suffer from cerebral hemorrhage if we followed our companion’s example, but for the sloth hanging upside down is a normal habit. In fact, he is so wonderfully designed to do so; it would seem foolish of him not to really.
Their long claws enable them to hang effortless from the trees whilst their head turns almost completely around without their body moving, to see everything that is going on around them. They have long shaggy grey brown hair that grows in the opposite direction of most animals, which makes it easier for water to run off from their skin when they are upside down. They also have a unique symbiotic alga, which grows on their fur giving them a greenish aspect providing camouflage in their forest habitat. Last but not least, probably one of the most incredible aspects of this mammal is that his incredibly slow digestive system enables him to functions like a walking fermentation tank explaining his prominent beer belly, reminding us slightly of our beloved Pooh Bear.
Their forearms are much longer than their thighs and their hands and thighs are spaced so widely that they cannot bring their knees together. This explaining why they crawl so sluggishly when on the ground, at their most vulnerable. Yet, don’t be fooled, he might resemble a new born when he crawls, our entertaining friend is an excellent little swimmer.
I gather now you understand why this charismatic buddy instantly charmed the Tree Shirt House. It is rare to find an animal whose whole skeletal structure was conceived to do but one thing: eat, hang out and chill! That is why we were saddened to find out that since 2010, the three toed pygmy sloth is classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red list of threatened species. As of today, it seems the pygmy sloth population is less than 500 at the utmost. The specie’s major threat is the destruction by locals and tourism of it’s already small habitat of the mangrove.
The Tree Shirt House’s proceedings will be donated to The TREE Foundation, which has developed a unique conservation fund for the Three Toed Pygmy Sloth of Isla Escudo. It is the first time any project of this kind is being conducted. Bryson Voirin, a long-standing TREE Foundation research associate, has devoted much of his research career to sloth ecology. You can read Bryson’s work on his blog in the Scientists at Work section of the New York Times website and we will be providing you updates via our blog.
The pygmy sloth is a rare, incredibly strange and charismatic creature that has developed qualities unique to his species making him at heart a true survivor.
Wouldn’t you agree the least we can do is give him a hand?