Some of the most adorable arboreal creatures on Earth are being given a helping hand in a former bird zoo in Limón. Since 1992, the Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary in Cahuita has been caring for “osos perezosos” -as sloths are called in Spanish- that need some sort of rehabilitation before being returned to the wild. Many of the sloths who end up at Aviarios are truly needy: they are orphaned babies. The sanctuary attracted Lucy Cooke, a budding video marketer and documentary filmmaker, to pay a visit to Aviarios last year.

What Lucy Cooke found at Aviarios was definitely worthy of filming. About two hundred sloths, many of them tiny babies and infants, being cared for by a genuinely humane staff lead by Judy Arroyo, known to her peers as “the sloth whisperer.” Lucy packed her camera and made the long trip from her home in the United Kingdom to Cahuita after watching one of Aviarios’ videos posted on YouTube. The video featured Taz, an incredibly photogenic and irresistibly cute baby sloth under the care of Judy Arroyo and her staff. Upon arrival, Lucy got right down to recording the friendly and lazy animals on video.

Viral Sloths

Lucy’s video “Meet the Sloths” became a YouTube sensation almost immediately, logging hundreds of thousands of daily views. While it certainly helped that Lucy’s video was noticed and Tweeted by two esteemed mainstays of the BBC, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross, the short film’s viral character can be mostly attributed to pure star power. On the cuteness scale, sloths are right up there with panda bears and kittens; baby sloths, however, are off-the-charts.

“Meet the Sloths” was only the beginning for Lucy Cooke. She has recently wrapped up a full-length documentary for Animal Planet that chronicles her journey and the important work of the Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary. The documentary, “Too Cute! Baby Sloths”, goes a lot further than simply showcasing the endearing animals; it chronicles some of the important animal protection and conservation efforts undertaken in Costa Rica. There are currently six species of Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae sloths slowly crawling around the planet, and while they are not an endangered species, they could easily fall into that category if humans aren’t careful. Sloths live in the forests of Central and South America, and in some areas of Brazil they are being threatened by deforestation.

Taking care of young orphaned sloths is Judy Arroyo’s specialty. Many of them are brought to Aviarios by concerned residents who spot them lost and defenseless after falling off trees. Baby sloths are heavily dependent; they cling for dear life to their mothers’ straw-like fur during the first months of their lives. It is difficult for sloth mothers to quickly recover their fallen babies. Many of them are killed by predators, or even passing vehicles, during rescue attempts, leaving the baby sloths to fend for themselves. These young sloths have a lot to learn in order to survive in the humid forests of southern Costa Rica. Sloth mothers teach their young to climb, feed and even the delicate skill of relieving themselves without attracting the attention of predators such as tigrillos (jaguars), feral dogs or tree snakes. Such skills are patiently taught to the orphans by Arroyo and her staff.

Luckily for Costa Rica’s sloths, there are other rescue centers and conservation efforts looking out for them. A cocoa farm in Guácimo de Limón is fitting sloths with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) collars to track their movements and feeding patterns. Based on the information collected and transmitted by the RFID devices, agricultural engineers can plan the expansion of their pineapple and cocoa crops without disrupting the sloth habitat. And at the Fundación Santuario Silvestre de Osa, injured sloths are frequently treated and rehabilitated.

Tico Sloths on Animal Planet

Too Cute! Baby Sloths will premier on the Animal Planet cable network on December 17 at 8:00 pm, and once again on December 18 at 1:00 pm. The 60-minute documentary will focus on the work of Judy Arroyo, the Sloth Whisperer.

Another whisperer and Animal Planet favorite, César Millan the Dog Whisperer, is expected to visit Costa Rica early next year.

Meet The Sloths