By Monique Pool | Founder and Director
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.
By Monique Pool | Founder and Director
By Monique Pool | Director and "Chief Sloth Catcher"
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