PUERTO VIEJO DE TALAMANCA, COSTA RICA
Meet Mango and Jim.
Mango, the real sloth (specifically a brown-throated, three-fingered sloth or Bradypus variegatus) in this cosy scene, was found on the forest floor in Costa Rica during a storm. Jim is the cuddly toy playing parent.
Mango was rescued by Dr Rebecca Cliffe of the Sloth Conservation Society.
“He was only about six months old, freezing cold and making cries to try to find his mum. But she wasn’t around,” says Cliffe.
So she warmed Mango up, gave him some food and left him in the capable hands of Jim while they waited for the storm to pass. “Jim’s our surrogate sloth dad. We use a stuffed sloth because it’s always good to minimise direct human contact with wild animals.”
Mango was fitted with a tracking collar and released where he was found.
“We’re still monitoring him to this day,” says Cliffe.
“He’s really quite lovely.”