This adorable sloth was found on a highway in Quevedo, central Ecuador, by the Comisión de Tránsito del Ecuador (Ecuador Transit Commission).
According to the Mail Online, the sloth was found on a road that was recently built and opened, so it is possible that the creature's habitat had been disturbed. Although the sloth was stuck in a pretty unfortunate set of circumstances, it was checked over by a veterinarian and later returned back to the forest.
On their Facebook post (translated from Spanish via Google), the Ecuador Highway Commission said: “We are grateful to all for your concern. Be advised, the sloth rescued by our unit was reviewed by a veterinarian [who also] determined that it was in optimal condition to be returning to its habitat. We are grateful to all those people who were interested in the health of the animal.”
There are six different species of sloth, all of which lounge around the rainforests of Central and South America. Sloths rarely leave their trees – where they sleep for up to 18 hours a day – as they are extremely vulnerable to predators on the ground. After all, their top speed is 6 centimeters per second (2.4 inches per second).
Posted by Comisión de Tránsito del Ecuador on Friday, January 22, 2016
Posted by Comisión de Tránsito del Ecuador on Friday, January 22, 2016
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