Sanctuary helps Suriname's sloths back to jungle

It’s been a busy three months at Green Heritage Fund Suriname.  Not only was Monique Pool honored in early August for her work with sloths as a ‘CNN Hero’, but we’ve also rescued 25 animals, including three-toed sloths, two-toed sloths and lesser anteaters.  A good number of those animals were healthy enough to be released immediately, but some are still amongst us.  

The GHFS nursery is in full swing these days with a total of 5 sloths under the age of one year, the ‘baby brigade’.  One new addition is Baby Haganah, who came to us at the tender age of less than one week.  A good samaritan saved the baby after hearing that her mother was killed and eaten.   Raising sloths this young is not easy and survival is never guaranteed.  Luckily, Baby Haganah accepted goat milk from a tiny bottle and eventually caught on to eating leaves with a little help from her peers. After two weeks she now has a friend for the day, and a friend for the night, and sometimes stays with yet another of the other orphans. They find consolence in holding onto each other and teach each other crucial survival and daily routine skills, such as pooping together.   A new rehabilitation center will be especially important for these young animals to have a chance at life in the wild, as they need to develop essential survival skills in as natural an environment as possible. 

While the joy of young lives keeps our spirits high, sometimes the truth is that we cannot save all animals.  Such is the case with Charles, who was picked up in early August only to pass away 24 hours later.  Charles may have been kept as a pet, as his nails showed signs of trauma.  He was severely dehydrated when we received him and it’s possible his kidneys had shut down.  His unnecessary death inspires us to continue the mission of grassroots community education, reiterating that ‘wild animals belong in the wild’. 

On a more positive note, we are grateful to many Surinamese people who have called us to report animals in trouble, and to several community volunteers who have even helped sloths in danger across the road while out and about.   We also had the great pleasure of having two volunteers, Amanda and Tabitha, from the Bronx NYC.  In addition, a big thanks and sloth hugs to all donors who help us move closer to our goal of a new rehabilitation center every day.

Remember how we told you in our last Sloth Courier about the arrival of two young three-toed sloths? Andrea was weak and skinny and seemed at a loss about what to do with the leaves we gave her. Luckily for her, Geersi was brought in around the same time and whenever he ate, she would follow his lead. We say ‘he’ and ‘she’, but in fact, there is no knowing if they are male or female until they reach one year of age, when the male will develop an orange mark on his back. Now these two have turned into confident youngsters and have confiscated Monique Pool’s office as their residence. Here, they can reach each corner and closet, leaving us at a loss as to where they are, curled up for a long nap. It is funny, but at the same time very illustrative of our need of a true rehabilitation center, where these animals can be in an outside enclosure with trees and wind and sun to warm up after a cool night, until old and independent enough to fend for themselves in the forest.

We also want to introduce you to Bas who was brought in on May 4th. He is our leading sloth in our second campaign on Global Giving which focuses on our construction and education plans. Bas is a very special and sad case. Look at his smiling face. Look at his fingers. This was him a fews days after his claws had been chopped off by people who thought he would make a nice pet but then decided he was a bore, sleeping the whole day. Every time we would touch him, he would squeal in such distress that it gave us goose bumps. Then you know for once and for all that this is not a smile on his face. His sensitive claws serve as fingers allowing him to grab branches and to climb trees. These fingers will take about 2 years to grow back, however, we will never be able to assess if he has the same feeling in them as before. All that time, he cannot go back into the wild because he cannot hold tight very well and might fall. And for that reason we cannot repeat often enough: "Wild animals belong in the wild!"

Links:

• The Sloth Courier