Sloths are widely known for their slow speed, but what most of us probably didn't know is that they're faster when swimming. All species of sloths live in tropical forests of Central and South America, they spend their days hanging in trees and only get down about once a week to relieve themselves. Sloths spend a majority of their lives in trees and do everything in them, eating, sleeping, mating, giving birth and they can even die while hanging on a tree! Being slow is what keeps sloths safe from predators around them, as they slowly move, it makes it hard for the predator to see them. Sloths sleep about 20 hours a day, but when they are awake they don't do much. Sloths rely on leaves, fruits and twigs, they get their water from the leaves they eat. They may be slow but they have great eye sight! A sloth moves at the speed of 0.25 km/h, if they were to race in a 100 metre dash, it would take about 25 minutes for them to finish. The world record for that distance right now is 9.74 seconds! When sloths are on the ground they are completely defenceless, they won't survive for that long. When baby sloths are born, they travel with their mothers for about 9 months. Aviarios Del Caribe is a bed and breakfast located in Costa Rica in a privately owned wildlife sanctuary. Owners, Luis, Judy Arroyo and Luis' brother have purchased it in 1972 and made it a shelter for many wild animals, birds, reptiles, mammals and butterflies. Many ecotourists and researchers interested in learning about the animals they have in the shelter. In 1991, they have started a foundation for tropical animals and have named it after the first sloth they rescued, Buttercup.
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