Adventure Costa Rica Blog

Sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica

Categoria: General

gen 24, 2014

Villagers know them as " kúkulas " u " perezos Bears" and some to associate with witchcraft. Puzzled by their behavior , do not understand why they do not move , do not run, no tured , like other mammals.
Penshurt . - In a thick tropical forest crossed by a river of crystal clear waters, tender but little known sloths have a sanctuary in the Caribbean of Costa Rica , one of the few research centers in the world specializing in this mysterious animal.

According to AFP , a sloth cement nearly four meters, which reproduces in full-scale prehistoric animal, greets visitors at this retreat located on Penshurt province of Limón. There arrive injured, run over, electrocuted in the electric cables or laying orphan because his mother was attacked by residents of the area or hunted by unscrupulous . Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica , covering 130 hectares , was created in 1992 by the Costa Rican Luis Arroyo and his American wife Judy Avey , to protect, rehabilitate and study these enigmatic animals , but also to educate about them.

is to love them. "

Villagers know them as " kúkulas " u " perezos Bears" and some to associate with witchcraft. Puzzled by their behavior , do not understand why they do not move , do not run, no tured , like other mammals.
" It hurts me that people do not appreciate. They are lazy but slow. Can we learn from his calm, to maintain serenity , like them, in this world of stress," Avey said in the haven of his refuge , initially devised to protect birds, it has up to 350 species identified . Slow , cautious, curious , lonely , defensive , strategic, teachers "zen " says Avey -the lazy tropical America is not a bear , but a relative of armadillos and anteaters . With up to ten cervical vertebrae are a notable exception in mammals , seven , say scientists.

There are two species in that country : the veterinarian Marcelo Espinosa 's " Bradypus variegatus " three claws, and " Cholepus hoffmanni " two fingers he explains. " I feed them for five years and I know that everyone has their way of being : one does not like carrots but hemstitching , only one is left bathe me ," says Teresa González , a native of Penshurt , while giving the baby Mojo his little bottle of goat's milk .
Some are in the trees , some in baskets or in incubators where stuffed animals hug like mothers . When they like babies remain permanently in the shelter they know not live in their natural habitat, as member adults are released once they are recovered.

With nothing to disturb, Buttercup sleeps curled up in a hanging rattan chair , a preferential site because she was the first resident of the shelter 20 years ago, after his mother died hit by a car.
"Neither the zoo nor anyone wanted to take care of because they knew nothing Lazy But we love : . . Climbed onto my chest and fell That's my darling ," said Judy Avey moved.Since then, the center has served over 500 sloths . Just keep one costs about 200,000 colones per year (about $ 400 ) , so the shelter generates revenue with a small zoo , a hotel and a guided tour of the biological reserve , accurate Espinosa.

Protagonists of documentaries, sloths have caused a furore online. " We saw on Youtube and decided to come to see them up close . 's Love ," he says , enthralled with ' Buttercup ' , Lebeacq Briggs , a young American tourist who traveled with his girlfriend to Limon.Sloths eat leaves , never drink water, especially living in Costa Rica 's Caribbean coast by moisture and abundance guarumo , his favorite tree, says Espinosa. Your metabolism is so slow digestion lasts a month , feeding twice a day and down the trees once a week to defecate . Sleeps 18 hours a day . They eat little, spend as little energy.

In playback are also an enigma. The Bradypus female emits a scream when she is in heat for the male finds , which may take three days to reach it. The other variety of sexual behavior is unknown.
Their gestation is 11 months , have a baby and not known how long they live. " The research is very slow. Nobody is interested in studying them. It's frustrating at times ," says the vet.
But Avey , who lives 40 years ago in Limon , no remains committed : " I can not imagine life without them Knowing them