London Zoo Welcomes Baby Sloth

Although it can take two-toed sloths nearly 10 years to form a pair, bond and breed, over in London Zoo, it appears Marilyn the sloth and her little Sloth boyfriend; Leander were far from slow off the mark.

Zookeeper Tegan McPhail said:

To say we were surprised when Marilyn fell pregnant after only six months is something of an understatement – we weren’t aware that she’d even been near the male.

When Leander arrived at the zoo at the end of 2012 from Germany as part of a conservation breeding programme, he and Marilyn just didn’t appear particularly interested in each other, but we knew that with sloths these things can take some time.

However, with the arrival of the first sloth to be born at London Zoo, it appears that it was all an act on their behalf and our two very sneaky sloths were getting amorous behind our backs.

Keepers do not know the sex of the new arrival, which is spending its days clinging on to Marilyn, and will not be able to tell if it is a boy or a girl until it is scanned by vets as there are no external differences between males and females.