The Biotropica animal park in Val-de-Reuil (Eure) now has seven sloths ! A baby was born on December 31, “a good surprise to end the year well“smiles Laëtitia Lassalle, the park’s zoological assistant.
Indeed, no one suspected that Gaïa, the young female born at Biotropica in 2019, was expecting a baby. “It is very difficult to spot a pregnancy in a sloth“explains Laëtitia Lassalle. “They spend a lot of time sleeping in a ball so it’s complicated to see if the belly is getting bigger and then their body is naturally pear-shaped so it’s not possible to see if the belly is rounding out all the more as they grow move backwards”. In short, the arrival of the little one was as unexpected as it was happy for the team.
“It shows that our animals feel good here” emphasizes the zoological assistant who recalls that this birth is the seventh in seven years. The first couple, Willem and Gema, arrived in October 2014 and have since had six babies, including Gaïa who has just given birth to her first baby after the arrival of his companion Juan at the end of 2020.
Sloth births are rare
These births are a particular source of pride for Biotropica because the “sloths are animals that reproduce relatively poorly, there are few births in France and even in Europe“explains Laëtitia Lassalle. Today Biotropica is a model of accommodation for sloths in Europe and with seven representatives makes Val-de-Reuil the lazy capital of Europe.
– Benedict Robin
The park does not keep all of its young. Their management is European and it is a European coordinator who decides on their place of residence in partnership with other zoos. For example Juan, Gaia’s companion came from Austria in 2020. In the same way, all the little ones born here do not stay. But the last female of Willem and Gema, Gaïa’s sister, will stay and should become a second companion for Juan. Did you follow?
Some information about the sloth
- He sleeps 4 to 6 p.m. a day.
- He comes down from the trees once a week for his needs
- Gestation lasts nine months like humans
- The Amazon rainforest is its natural habitat
- There are several kinds of sloths. At Biotropica they are two-toed sloths (unau), big sloths
- The sloth is a herbivore
- The sloth is listed as ‘least concern’ as an endangered species