TOPEKA, Kan. -- A family of three just welcomed its newest member, a super cute baby sloth!
The Topeka zoo just unveiled the baby sloth named Foley.
It will be awhile until we know if Foley is a boy or girl. DNA tests must be done because sloths' sex organs are internal.
Foley is a Hoffman's two-towed sloth. His mom, Jacque, is 27 years old and his dad, Mocha, is 19 years old. Foley has a sibling, one-year-old Newt. But we don't know if Newt is a big brother or big sister, because we're still waiting on Newt's gender as well.
The zoo said baby and mom appear to be bright and alert and are doing great. The zoo's animal care staff said Foley was alert and clinging to mom in a good nursing position.
The family of four are the only sloths living in the Topeka Zoo's Tropical Rain forest. The Topeka Zoo has a long successful history with sloth reproduction largely due to the rain forest environment. Foley is Jacque's 15th offspring ,and Mocha's fourth.
Congratulations to mom and dad, and welcome to Kansas, sweet little Foley!
Want to know more about two-toed sloths? We found some interesting facts from the National Geographic.
- The Hoffman Two-Toed Sloth is one of the world's slowest mammals. It is so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat.
- Sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time hanging from branches with a powerful grip. Sloths even sleep in trees.
- And sloths sleep a lot. They get around 15 to 20 hours of shut-eye every day. Even when they are awake, they often remain motionless.
- Their only diet is leaves and water, so not a lot of energy is built up in their bodies.
- On land, sloths are clumsy, but if you get them in water, they are really good swimmers.
