Sloth selfies are feeding a booming wildlife trafficking trade
The growing trade in sloths for tourism and the pet market has turned a once-overlooked mammal into one of Latin America’s more exploited wildlife species, reports Fernanda Wenzel.
The animals’ slow movements and algae-tinted fur help them evade predators in the canopy. They do little, however, to deter hunters. Once spotted, a tree can be felled in minutes. Mothers trying to defend their young are often killed, and the infants are mutilated to make them easier to handle. Many are then sold as props for photos or as pets for travelers who like the idea of a docile, “smiling” creature.
“That ‘smile’ hides immense suffering,” says Neil D’Cruze of Canopy. The biologist has documented how sloths endure severe stress when handled, confined or surrounded by crowds. Few survive it. For small infants, mortality can reach 99 percent, according to Tinka Plese of the Aiunau Foundation in Colombia. Many arrive “hungry, thirsty, with an impressive sadness,” she says.
Deforestation remains the greatest threat to sloths, but trafficking tied to wildlife tourism has expanded the danger. A 2018 study led by D’Cruze identified hundreds of attractions in the region advertising direct contact with wild animals. Some markets, such as Belén in Iquitos, openly offer sloths for purchase. Tens of thousands are believed to be involved in the trade, with animals shipped to the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Concern over the scale of exploitation has prompted Brazil, Costa Rica and Panama to seek CITES Appendix II protections for two species, Choloepus didactylus and C. hoffmanni. Advocates say both have become increasingly targeted, with rising seizures in the Amazon. Legal sales in some countries also complicate enforcement, creating incentives for traffickers to move animals across borders where regulations are weaker.
Stronger international controls may slow the trade. They will not address the underlying loss of habitat. As D’Cruze puts it, “We need not only to stop sloths from being unsustainably removed from the wild but also to stop nature from being destroyed.”