Sloths are tropical mammals that live in Central and South America. They use long claws to climb trees and hang onto the branches. They spend most of their time up in the trees, and come down about once a week to poop! Sloths are one of the sloooooowest and most sluggish animals on the planet.
Sloth teeth and nails grow throughout their lives. This makes it very difficult to determine the age of a wild sloth. In fact, scientists have never tracked a wild sloth from birth to death. This means that we don't really know how long they can live in the wild. Scientists can make a pretty good guess from many factors. But until more studies are done (or until we develop the ability to speak with sloths), their lifespan is still a mystery.
According to the Sloth Conservation Foundation, sloths can live up to 40 to 50 years in captivity. At the time of this post in January 2023, a sloth at Krefeld Zoo in Germany is 52 years old! His name is Jan and he currently holds the Guinness World Record for oldest sloth in captivity ever.
Image source: "Brown-Throated Three-toed Sloth" by chaz jackson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.