sloths at adelaide » Adelaide Zoo

sloths at adelaide
26-03-2006

does anyone know anything about the hoffman's two toed sloths at adelaide zoo (could be one for ben)? are they on display? they have a male and female - do they intend on breeding them? how long have they been at the zoo?

27-03-2006

They are on Display on teh outer wall of the Nocturnal House, apperently they are very sensitive to teh temperature, so they will never be housed out side of the noc house, (soprry no mixes with Tamarins or Birds), they ahev been at the zoo a number of years but i am not sure how many, if they are indeed a male and female (which i am not sure of, have to check isis), adeliade have the following policy, they only breed animals if there is somewhere in the zoo or outside it, so if any zoos want one they will try to breed, them, but they dont have any room for more sloths at the zoo, they are being over run by tree shrews, they are in 5 of the 6 exhibits on the outside of the nochouse, including with the sloth exhibit, and one of the jewels of asia aviaries

Adelaide Zoo breeding policy
27-03-2006

Surely this should be a good reason d'etre for Monarto to exist in the first place
Any breeding successes can live out in the Countryside near Murray Bridge !

27-03-2006

yeah but because they are so sentsitive to the heat/cold, they have to be kept inside and thats not what monarto's about

21-01-2008

A bit about Adelaide's sloths; (better late than never,I hope!)

A pair of Hoffman's Sloths, wild caught in Panama,were received from Lincoln Park zoo Chicago in Nov. 1972.

In Feb 1974 the female gave birth to a young one - female.
In Sept. 1974 the male managed to escape from its heated enclosure into the adjoining cage which was unheated. It was a cold wet night and by the time it was discovered the next morning it was suffering from exposure and died 24 hours later.

The adult female had apparently been successfully impregnated, however, because 5 months after the death of the male she gave birth to another young one, on 1st March 1975. This is presumably the male which is still at the zoo today, (if ISIS is correct and the animal is still alive.) The mother died 10 months later, in Jan. 1976. I don't know when the young female died but assume it was only in the last couple of years?

20-02-2008

Ara got it most of it correct...

The Zoo still has two Sloths. The female born on 20 Feb 1974 is still very much alive and currently housed "inside" the Nocturnal House. Perhaps she will soon became the "longest lived sloth in the world" (that we know about). I can not find record yet of the birth in march 1975. My understanding is that the animal born 'AFTER' his death is the female born on 20 Feb 1974 that I have already brought up. I'll look into the 1975 birth?...

The mother did die in jan 1976 (leaving just the young female) and a male was acquired in the early 90's from Lincoln Park Zoo and they are now the 2 sloths sill housed at the zoo.

16-06-2008

Does anyone know if they did try to breed them in the past?

17-06-2008

Yep,I had it wrong; the baby born after the death of the male was indeed a female, not a male.

The basic history of Adelaide's sloths is as follows:-
Nov.1972 - Pair received from Chicago.
Feb.1974 - Female gives birth to a young female.
Sept.1974 - Male died.
Mar.1975 - Female gives birth again, baby is another female.
Jan.1976 - Old female(the mother) died.
Early 1990s - male received from Chicago (thanks fact finder).

This left 2 females 1 male. Since then apparently one of the females has died, leaving present population of 1-1.