ConservationSloth Diaries
Monster was my greatest inspiration for starting TSI
This week marks 5 years since Monster was attacked and killed by an ocelot.
Monster was my greatest inspiration and my greatest teacher. Many of you may know the story of how she died…but do you remember the details of how she lived? Brave, curious and full of hope.
Here is my favorite story about Monster
The day she was released, that night there was a HUGE thunderstorm. It was really bad and being her first night out we were concerned she would panic and have a hard time finding shelter in the storm. I went out at midnight and was able to recapture her and get her back into the release cage to wait out the storm with the intention of arriving back at 6am the next morning to let her back out again, once the storm had passed. So the next morning I got to the release cage, bright and early and there was Monster WAITING at the release door. At no time prior to being released had she ever paid attention to that door, however after being released she clearly knew exactly where it led. I rushed over to the door to open it so she could go back out again. At this point a part of me thought maybe it was a coincidence that she happened to be resting there, but sure enough, as soon as the door opened, Monster climbed out, to take herself back out into the trees!
The forest was exactly where she wanted to be
At that moment I promised her I would never lock her up again… she was meant to be free and the forest was exactly where she wanted to be.
A few months later, she was killed by the ocelot. While tragic and devastating, ocelots are one of the main natural predators for sloths in Manuel Antonio. Monster was unlucky and in “the wrong place at the wrong time”. But after her death I remembered how desperately she wanted her freedom and how happy she was being in the trees where she belonged.
Her desire to be free
Monster was my main inspiration for creating TSI, and without her, I wasn’t sure I could continue the mission. But it was because of her desire to be free that I knew that we couldn’t stop trying to provide that for other sloths. Since then we have rescued and released hundreds of more sloths…I like to think that Monster would be proud.
Thank you for your continued support and for helping TSI save more sloths like Monster to live their best sloth lives in the wild!
Please consider making a donation and support our mission today.
