Did you know that there is an internationally recognized holiday all about sloths?
That’s right – there is, in fact, an International Sloth Day. On Oct. 20, Toucan Rescue Ranch kicks off this special occasion with its entertaining and unique fundraiser, the Sloth Ironman Games. Now going on its fourth year, TRR creates an enrichment game series focused on four chosen sloth athletes, otherwise known as slothletes.
The slothletes are revealed on Oct. 20 for International Sloth Day. For the rest of the week, they participate in a four-part series of enrichment challenges: the hibiscus eat-off (devour the flower), the poop-off challenge, the strong sloth challenge, and the one-meter dash. Entirely at their own mercy, the sloths compete in these games, which are administered by the sloths’ caregivers and veterinarians. It is the fastest sloth who wins!
While the sloths enjoy carrying on with their routine of eating flowers, using the bathroom, climbing and sleeping, the goal of the games is to bring awareness to the issues that sloths face in today’s world. Each slothlete is an orphaned sloth brought to the Toucan Rescue Ranch for a variety of reasons. Commonly, these include electrocution by power lines, car accidents, dog attacks, and human encroachment, such as deforestation and the illegal pet trade. Oftentimes, babies are found abandoned by their mother for unknown reasons (likely because the mother was involved in an accident).
— Zara Palmer is a Marketing Specialist at Toucan Rescue Ranch.
This article was produced by The Toucan Rescue Ranch. The Toucan Rescue Ranch specializes in helping wild animals recover so that they can be reintroduced into the wild.
