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Welcome Athena, The National Zoo's New Two-Toed Sloth
DEC 27, 4:37 PM
Welcome Athena, The National Zoo’s New Two-Toed Sloth
Natalie Delgadillo
Athena, mid-snack consumption.
Smithsonian National Zoo
Nearly two years after the death of geriatric sloth Ms. Chips, the National Zoo has a sprightly new addition to the Small Mammal House in the form of 1 1/2-year-old sloth Athena.
Athena was shipped to D.C. from the Ellen Trout Zoo in Texas to breed with Vlad, a 34-year-old sloth who lived with Ms. Chip in the Small Mammal House for many years. Vlad and Ms. Chip appeared to have a mostly platonic relationship, though keepers can’t say for certain—if they ever mated, it likely happened under cover of darkness and away from the prying eyes of zoo staff, says Kara Ingraham, an animal keeper who cares for the sloths.
“It’s very possible there was mating, but it happened at dusk or dawn when sloths tend to be most active,” Ingraham says. “We never witnessed any breeding, and they never had any reproductive success.”
The point is, Vlad has no living heirs. The two-toed sloth species survival plan recommends that he produce some with Athena, who is slated to reach sexual maturity at 3 years old. When that happens, keepers will just have to wait and see whether it’s a romantic match between the two tree-dwellers, Ingraham says.
For now, Athena has been placed in an exhibit with Vlad in the Small Mammal House. Before her debut on December 22, the baby sloth was quarantined for a month and slowly prepared for her introduction to her potential future-partner-in-parenthood. Keepers regularly switched Vlad and Athena’s blankets to get each sloth used to the other’s smell, Ingraham says.
....
Welcome Athena, The National Zoo’s New Two-Toed Sloth
Natalie Delgadillo
Athena, mid-snack consumption.
Smithsonian National Zoo
Nearly two years after the death of geriatric sloth Ms. Chips, the National Zoo has a sprightly new addition to the Small Mammal House in the form of 1 1/2-year-old sloth Athena.
Athena was shipped to D.C. from the Ellen Trout Zoo in Texas to breed with Vlad, a 34-year-old sloth who lived with Ms. Chip in the Small Mammal House for many years. Vlad and Ms. Chip appeared to have a mostly platonic relationship, though keepers can’t say for certain—if they ever mated, it likely happened under cover of darkness and away from the prying eyes of zoo staff, says Kara Ingraham, an animal keeper who cares for the sloths.
“It’s very possible there was mating, but it happened at dusk or dawn when sloths tend to be most active,” Ingraham says. “We never witnessed any breeding, and they never had any reproductive success.”
The point is, Vlad has no living heirs. The two-toed sloth species survival plan recommends that he produce some with Athena, who is slated to reach sexual maturity at 3 years old. When that happens, keepers will just have to wait and see whether it’s a romantic match between the two tree-dwellers, Ingraham says.
For now, Athena has been placed in an exhibit with Vlad in the Small Mammal House. Before her debut on December 22, the baby sloth was quarantined for a month and slowly prepared for her introduction to her potential future-partner-in-parenthood. Keepers regularly switched Vlad and Athena’s blankets to get each sloth used to the other’s smell, Ingraham says.
....
1 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Local
Sloth love? Two sloths are being introduced to each other in hopes they’ll mate at National Zoo.
thena, a two-toed female sloth, arrived from a Texas zoo in December at the National Zoo. Keepers hope she will mate with a male sloth. (National Zoo)
By Dana Hedgpeth
Dec. 30, 2019 at 12:25 p.m. EST
She’s named Athena.
And officials at the National Zoo are hoping the newly arrived, 1½-year-old female two-toed sloth from the Ellen Trout Zoo in Texas will enjoy the company of a male sloth at the facility in Northwest Washington.
Athena made her debut at the National Zoo on Dec. 22, and zoo officials hope she’ll take a liking to her male suitor: a 34-year-old male sloth named Vlad. There hasn’t been a baby sloth born at the zoo since 1984.
Zoo keepers have started to “introduce” Athena and Vlad, and, just as sloths move, they’ve done it slowly.
Before the two, two-toed sloths meet face-to-face, there’s some courtship.
....
Keepers hope to breed Athena with a male sloth at the National Zoo. (National Zoo)
....
Dana Hedgpeth is a Washington Post reporter, working in the early morning to report on traffic, crime and other local issues. She joined The Post in 1999. Follow https://twitter.com/postmetrogirl
Sloth love? Two sloths are being introduced to each other in hopes they’ll mate at National Zoo.
thena, a two-toed female sloth, arrived from a Texas zoo in December at the National Zoo. Keepers hope she will mate with a male sloth. (National Zoo)
By Dana Hedgpeth
Dec. 30, 2019 at 12:25 p.m. EST
She’s named Athena.
And officials at the National Zoo are hoping the newly arrived, 1½-year-old female two-toed sloth from the Ellen Trout Zoo in Texas will enjoy the company of a male sloth at the facility in Northwest Washington.
Athena made her debut at the National Zoo on Dec. 22, and zoo officials hope she’ll take a liking to her male suitor: a 34-year-old male sloth named Vlad. There hasn’t been a baby sloth born at the zoo since 1984.
Zoo keepers have started to “introduce” Athena and Vlad, and, just as sloths move, they’ve done it slowly.
Before the two, two-toed sloths meet face-to-face, there’s some courtship.
....
Keepers hope to breed Athena with a male sloth at the National Zoo. (National Zoo)
....
Dana Hedgpeth is a Washington Post reporter, working in the early morning to report on traffic, crime and other local issues. She joined The Post in 1999. Follow https://twitter.com/postmetrogirl
