Baby Sloth Coming Winter 2019!

Charlotte, Denver Zoo’s 23-Year-Old Linne’s Two-Toed Sloth, Expected to Give Birth in Early 2019

There’s no better Christmas present than finding out Denver Zoo is expecting a new baby sloth! But you’ll need to wait at least a couple more months before the “package” is delivered.

We recently confirmed that Charlotte, our 23-year-old Linne’s two-toed sloth, is pregnant and expecting another baby in late February or early March 2019. Her new baby will join dad, Elliot, and big sister, Baby Ruth, who was born on January 28, in their habitat in Bird World. Charlotte’s pregnancy has been closely monitored by our animal care and veterinary medical teams with regular ultrasounds, checkups and weigh-ins to ensure she and her baby are healthy and gaining the appropriate amount of weight.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to Denver Zoo on YouTube for the latest updates on Charlotte and our sloth family, including when the new baby is born and when you can expect to see it. In the meantime, get your sloth fix by visiting Baby Ruth in her Bird World habitat and revisit some highlights from her first few months:

• February 1: We’ve got sloth baby news!
• February 9: A closer look at our baby sloth!
• March 8: Who knew sloth scratches could be so cute?
• March 23: It’s a girl!
• April 3: Charlotte and Baby Ruth wrestle!

When the baby arrives, it will be around 10 inches long and weigh 10-13 ounces. It will hide in Charlotte’s fur and cling to her while nursing for the first four to five weeks, then remain with Charlotte for up to nine months before venturing out on its own. Sloths live for about 20 years in the wild, but can reach 30-40 years in zoos.

Linne’s two-toed sloths are among two types of sloths—two-toed and three-toed—and six different species, including the pygmy three-toed, maned, pale-throated, brown-throated, and Hoffman’s. They are found in the rainforests of South America and spend 15 to 20 hours per day sleeping, only becoming active about an hour after sunset until two hours before sunrise. Although the Linnaeus’s two-toed is not currently considered threated, two other species—the pygmy three-toed and maned—are critically endangered and vulnerable, respectively.