Eric: The Three-Fingered Sloth Success Story

Meet Eric.

Eric, named after the great Prince Eric, is an adult male three-fingered sloth who we (The Sloth Institute) rescued in 2019 after he was found laying on the ground injured, and unable to move.

He had fallen on a bridge within the forest and, although sloths are very good at falling, Eric fell onto an unforgiving metal surface which broke his arm in a devastating manner. The break was so severe that the bone became infected and no amount of healing seemed possible. After numerous attempts at saving his arm had been exhausted, the difficult decision was made to amputate it to save his life.

Luckily, losing one limb isn’t the end of the road for a sloth. With proper care and training, we have proven that sloths can be rehabilitated and released back #intothewild. Over the years, our team has released two-fingered sloths with amputations, and because of our post-release tracking program, we know that amputee sloths can again survive in the wild! However, Eric was our first three-fingered sloth amputee, as well as our first male; thus, we weren’t sure if he could be as successful with one arm. According to our research, male sloths tend to engage in more physically intense fights than females to protect territory and mating rights; so we wondered if Eric would be able to properly compete with other males or even travel around the forest well enough to maintain his health with only three fingers on one side of his body. But despite all those doubts we had for him, we knew we owed it to Eric to give him this chance!

Years later, we are delighted to say that Eric is not only surviving in the wild after release but thriving! Thanks to our tracking program, we know he has become the most dominant male at our release site and is undefeated in all of his battles against other males. 

He is healthy and strong and continues to have regular sightings with many females in the new area where he resides. We are so proud of Eric as his rehabilitation story has proven that sloths with one arm can not only survive, but thrive when returning back into to the wild. Eric is an extraordinary example of how losing a limb doesn’t mean the end for a sloth and that with proper care and training, they can be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.