Sloth Sanctuary Suriname sequel: the whole story!

We submitted this report late, not on purpose, but because we accidentally posted our report to our funded project. You can find that report about now 19 years of sloth rescues and rehabilitation here. So, in effect, you are getting two reports just before the end of this year instead of one report.

This time, I have a sad story to tell. We have been struggling with a heart-breaking case for the past ten days. As I told you before, most of our rescues are from the urban area. Ten days ago, we received a rescue from the Brownsberg Nature Park. It is a nature park that is under siege by illegal gold miners. We received a baby two-fingered sloth that had apparently been abandoned by its mother, and it had strange wounds. The baby had lost the flesh between the claws, foot, and hand cushions of all four paws. Our first thought was an electrocution. However, once we determined the location, we knew the area had no power lines. There was also no smell to indicate an electrocution.

When we checked back with the specialists from the IUCN Anteater, Sloth, and Armadillo Specialist Group, they told us they had never seen such wounds before and that it looked like the "crazy ants" wounds from Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, there have been cases of "crazy ants" attacking crops and wildlife, including sloths. The ants thrive in disturbed habitats. Brownsberg Nature Park is severely disturbed and degraded due to illegal gold mining.

We treated the little one, whom we called Jimmy, for 10 days. Although there was progress in slow healing, the tendons were gone entirely, and the claws were no longer functional. Yesterday, I cried when the vets decided to let Jimmy go. She would never have been able to live life as a sloth should. Climbing in trees and enjoying the sunlight through the leaves of the canopy. She is in a better place now.

We now must think about how to help address the illegal activities in Brownsberg Nature Park. To prevent other sloths and their babies from falling victim to crazy ants. It is a human-made disaster, so we need to find a human-made solution to restore the balance in this habitat.

At the end of the year, we reflect not only on this sad loss. But we are also immensely grateful for all the successful rehabilitations in the past year. Work that we would not have been able to do without your support over the many years we have been engaged in this work. We are sending you all the best wishes for the holiday season and hope we will start the new year on a brighter note.

For many years, we have released sloths in the forest behind our rehabilitation center with the idea that the owners of the plots of land in the future wanted to start using the forest for tourism purposes. So, we thought our forest was safe. Last year, we received a group of student biologists with their lecturer and a tree spotter to take a closer look at our forest. This forest survey was done because the most famous tree spotter in Suriname told us that our forest was at least one thousand years old when he visited. The report of this group of students, their lecturer, and a tree specialist confirmed that this was not a secondary forest but most likely an original coastal forest with species they usually do not expect to see in a forest in the coastal area.

We were, of course, delighted with this news. We also let the other forest owners know how unique this forest is. And this year, we saw some wildlife in our forest that we had not seen before. We saw one deer, peccaries, and, of course, monkeys that inhabit this area and move around our center. They sometimes even dare to run on the railing of our building to hop into another tree. We have always been in close contact with the owners of the other forest plots behind our center. We asked them if they would sell us a piece of deforested land in the front to set up a knowledge and education center.

And as things go, they are willing to sell, however, differently than we had expected. Due to personal circumstances, they will no longer be developing activities in the forest for tourism, and they will not return to Suriname to engage in those activities. They have decided to sell their land, including the forest plots. They have given us the opportunity to purchase all of the land, the deforested plot, the forest behind the center, and one more piece along the river. However, they will sell it to anyone interested if we do not purchase it. And that creates an uncertain future for the sloths we have released there over almost 20 years. This means that our sloths could lose their trees if we do not secure them for them. 

Today, we're reaching out to you with a direct request. Can you help us save the trees for our sloths? Your support is crucial in our efforts to secure the land. We will soon launch a separate project outlining our plans. But for now, we need your help to spread the word. Together, we can ensure a safe future for the sloths.

Your continued support is invaluable. With your help, we can continue our mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and release sloths and anteaters. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant difference. Thank you for being a part of our journey.