Paignton Zoo sloth on the move – slowly!

Sebastian the sloth is moving on - slowly!

Paignton Zoo's male Linne's two-toed sloth is off to Drusillas Zoo, in Sussex, in the hope that he will mate with a female there.

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park's Director of Operations and Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment said: "He has not bred here and we think it is because our female – known as Dark Cap because of a patch of dark fur on her head – is relatively old.

"We don't know her exact age, but she is at least 25. Sloths can live for 30 years or more in zoos. Females reach maturity at around 3 or 4 years and males at about 5. We hope that Seb will come back if we can bring in a younger female. Drusillas Zoo has a female which is much more likely to breed. It might be a bit of a Club 18-30 holiday for him!"

Sebastian, nicknamed 'Seb the Sloth', was born at Copenhagen Zoo on 3rd November 1994 and came to Paignton Zoo from Rotterdam Zoo on 12th August 2000. Dark Cap came to Devon from Bristol Zoo in December 2003.

Paignton Zoo Senior Head Keeper of Mammals said: "Sloths are famous for being slow, but they can move quickly if they need too, they have a very strong grip and sharp claws, so the keepers will be taking the greatest care ensuring his move goes smoothly and is safe for him and them, too!"

Linne's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) is one of the slowest animals on Earth – in fact, it has such a slow lifestyle that moss and algae can be found growing on its fur in the wild. It lives in the canopy of tropical forests in South America. It is nocturnal, sleeping for up to 15 hours during the day, and mainly solitary. It spends its life hanging upside down in trees, coming down only to move to another tree in search of food or to defecate. Its fur grows in the opposite direction to most animals, so the rain will run off.

Sloths mainly eat vegetation such as leaves, berries and fruit and have been known to supplement their diet with insects. The two-toed sloth has 3 toes on its back feet and 2 toes on its front feet. The fingers and toes have long curved claws enabling the sloth to hang upside down from branches. It is not endangered at present but the pet trade is a growing threat.