The Surinamese Sloths and Their Friends At SEAS NV

When I got the odd request for powdered goat milk as I prepared to head to Suriname, I was taken with the thought of seeing some sloths - especially outside of cages, since I hate seeing any animal trapped. I, of course, consulted the Wikipedia entry on sloths and learned a few things since I knew regrettably little about Sloths other than Sid the Sloth from the The Ice Age movies.

You can read a lot from books, from websites and you can listen to what people tell you - but nothing is better than one's own observations. So, even as I read about Megatherium, the largest sloth on record (extinct; weighed as much as a bull elephant), I kept in mind that what I would see would be the most interesting part. Still, their slow metabolisms and the way that their hair grows away from their extremities instead of toward their extremities like most mammals is noteworthy. They take about a month to digest their food, and even have some symbiotic cyanobacteria which grows in their hair that gives them nutrients when they groom (I wish I got nutrients when I groomed). They have about half as much muscle tissue as animals of similar weight, and 2/3 of a well fed sloth's weight is held in its stomach - a stomach which is compartmentalized and holds bacteria which helps it break down the leaves it eats.

They sleep about as much as the average government official - 15-18 hours a day - and are only truly at risk when they are on the ground. Common sense dictates that sloths should stay off of the ground, and they appear to have that common sense. Still, humans with bulldozers knock down trees. Humans with axes and saws cut down trees. I suppose that while mankind is proud of the Iron Age, sloths may have an altogether different perspective.

So what did I see?

Taran's First Sloth: Arlene

Arlene, named for the woman who rescued her, is pictured at right. She had just gotten to SEAS NV (more on SEAS NV later), and was not particularly happy. The highly specialized equipment was broken out: A smock and gloves. Though it was somewhat dark in the interior of the vehicle, I opted not to use the flash of the camera; I know I don't like the flash and I didn't see how it would improve Arlene's mood. She's a Pale-throated Three-toed Sloth, Bradypus tridactylus. And she wasn't particularly happy with homo sapiens.

Still, Monique and Maya managed to get Arlene into the office. She was in fairly good health, especially considering that she was found on the road. Since this was the first sloth I was seeing, Monique explained to me that this was very rare - that most sloths were not so touchy.

In the back of my mind I wondered, 'Why did the sloth cross the road?'. Was it that the road was in the middle of the sloths area, or was there something else motivating the sloth? I would later find out that north of Paramaribo. 2200 acres of land is being cleared. That must be a pretty large mall.

I'd say that would probably motivate sloths to move out of the area.

Arlene wasn't eating, which was of concern. I am told that she really was not acting much like most sloths; perhaps it was stress. Still, given that it takes a month or so for a sloth to digest its food, her lack of eating was a bit of a concern for everyone.

Cecropia

When it comes to diet, I was surprised to find out that their favorite food is Cecropia leaves - known as the Congo Pump in Guyana and as Bois canot, Bois canon and Trumpet tree in Trinidad and Tobago. I have been cutting these trees down for decades in Trinidad and Tobago, as they are not great yard plants and also have an interesting relationship with Azteca ants. Still, I had to go to Suriname to learn about Trinidad and Tobago's Cecropia peltata. I've been around it for at least half of my life, but had no idea that it was a food for sloths, much less a local cure for snake bites:

...Emergency snake medicines are obtained by chewing a three-inch piece of the root of bois canôt (Cecropia peltata) taken from the east part of the tree and administering this chewed-root solution to the dog...

It also has other uses (ibid):

...Cecropia peltata leaves boiled in water are used in a bath for rheumatism in Guatemala [63]Cecropia peltata leaves are used for aches, abscesses, coughs, pains, fever, pertussis, skin lesions and digestive problems in Eastern Nicaragua, Jamaica and Cuba [53,64]. Cecropia peltata leaves are used for snakebites in Trinidad [52,65]. Free fatty acids including stearic, arachidic, behenic, lignoceric and cerotic acids were isolated from Cecropia species. Leaves of Cecropia peltata contain leucocyanidin [54]...

It seems I vastly underestimated the tree. While there are no sloths in Trinidad, I'll not cut down the tree in the back of the yard so easily. It seems a useful plant to have around.

Odd how going somewhere else teaches you things about where you were.

Back To Arlene

Arlene eventually did eat, and was released into the wild; I rode along and took some pictures.

Arlene moons the humans as they leave.

What was most interesting for me when I watched Arlene be released was how she looked the area over. She gazed around her, moving the 9 vertebra in her neck so that her eyes could wander around - stoic, observant, intelligent. I imagine she was looking out for predators, getting her bearings (she paused a moment while looking in the direction of the sun) and surveying her surroundings for food. There was a feel of nonchalance because of the slow speed of her movements, and yet it was purposeful. I imagine she may be telling other sloths in the area about the strange creatures she met.

You can find more pictures of Arlene here.

On the way out, I met Han - a person living in the area where Arlene was released, and learned how he had taught a wounded sloth to use its bad leg claw; it didn't want to use it to grip anything so Han taped a pencil to the claw. Eventually, that sloth was able to not only leave - but leave with an adopted baby sloth.

Sloth 2: Sid

Sid was picked up near the same area which Arlene was found and was taken to the Paramaribo zoo - I tagged along for this. Sid wasn't in the greatest of shape and needed to eat - and eat he did, as you can see in the picture. Still, there was some concern because he was rather light.

He was interesting to watch as he ate. You could almost see the energy being burned in getting more energy into his body; with so much time necessary to digest it must have been very taxing for him to eat - but he did. I suspect eating for a sloth is a lot like a Certificate of Deposit: You have to wait to see the effect. It brought to mind the concept of emotional intelligence.

A trip to the veterinarian showed that he was dehydrated, but didn't need intravenous therapy - Monique simply gave him some water directly. He was well on his way to better health by the time I left Suriname, though he did need to put on a bit more weight before being released.

He's in great hands. He'll be fine, I'm sure.

Sloth 3: Johann

Johann was named after a close friend and fellow adventurer who helped me acquire the goat milk for the baby sloths. Johann was in much better shape than the others I had seen so far - he was a calm creature who was fairly well fed (much like his human namesake), though he could afford just a few more Cecropia leaves.

Johann was able to hang out in the tree at SEA NV, and the pictures I have of him are all of him in the tree. Overnight, he managed to break one of the trees - perhaps by climbing to the top, though as a potted plant I do believe that the tree was weakened - which is sort of like an academic theorizing why the stars are so far away - it doesn't matter. Tree broke. That's it.

Johann, also like his namesake, put up with me and seemed about as curious about me as I was of him. Granted, I presently have a similar build and may have looked like a shaved sloth to him.

He'll probably be released soon as well; he is in good shape and seemed in good spirits. I think he actually got himself to SEAS NV so that he could check his email.

Taran The Sloth

While it is unfortunate that I had to cut my stay in Suriname short, I was still there long enough to have a sloth named after me. Like Sid, we had to pick up Taran at the Paramaribo Zoo - but unlike the others, he decided to get to the top of a tree while waiting for us. It required a ladder and some coercion to get him down, and even when he did come down he was reaching for the ladder (in the pic). Taran was originally found on the Coesewijnestraat.

Some other visitors were along with us and had their 4 year old daughter with them when we picked Taran up - and it was really interesting to see the reaction of the child when she saw the sloth. Taran seemed to be in good enough spirits.

When he got to SEA NV, he scampered to the top of a tree outside and rested; he seemed like a sloth who was in good shape, good spirits and wanted little to do with people - instead hanging out, eating and sleeping. I suppose that he got named well.

Personal Notes

I didn't get to hold my namesake (or any of the others, for that matter), but that didn't bother me in the least - I think its important for wild animals to have as little human contact as possible. Contrary to the opinion of some, I am human and I even recognize it now and then - I am more carbon than silicon, which is more than can be said for some homo sapiens.

On a more serious note, it was really worth seeing the sloths. It is difficult not to humanize the sloths; it is more difficult to see the sloth in humans. Monique showed me an interesting book that will be in my next bulk order from Amazon.com; Discover Your Inner Sloth: Mix in Its Leisurely Dynamic to Banish Stress.

It certainly was good to see the sloths, and even better to see those suffering to be in the good hands of the people at SEAS NV. It was, however, sad to know that it is necessary for creatures with such simple lives to need this help - perhaps a different perspective is necessary.

Sloths are really interesting and noteworthy creatures - but I wonder at times if any other creatures could say the same of us. Our most noteworthy diplomats to other species carry chainsaws and guns, drive bulldozers and build large concrete structures to live in or sell things from. Certainly, in the name of progress there is a need for human industry - but the cost of that industry most certainly needs to be better balanced.

I didn't get to see the baby sloths that I brought the milk for, but given the amount of sloths I saw... that really doesn't matter too much. The baby sloths were being nursed in the homes of people who could give them more attention. They are two toed sloths, I am told, and while it would have been interesting... when one observes so much and requires some time to process the information, there is no need to rush things. The sloths are onto something there.

SEAS NV

When I got to Suriname, I went and visited Suriname Environmental Advisory Services which deals not only with sloths, but the dolphins as well (they have a great tour if you visit Suriname). Monique Pool and Maya Matawlie were very helpful and experienced when it came to the environment of Suriname and the creatures who do not require passports and visas to enter and leave. They provide Products and Services as well as merchandise which I highly recommend: they are self funded.

I picked up a few t-shirts from SEAS-NV, which are made of... bamboo. You can read about why bamboo is a great material on the SEAS NV site; I will testify that they are comfortable, softer than cotton and seem to wick away moisture fairly quickly. They are amazingly light, and my favorite is the light green one which has a Buddhist reference:

The faithful Ananda one day asked the Finest of Men: Lord, how is it that in the animals we see all the gods represented -- the ferocity of Kali in the tiger, the strength and endurance of Ganesh in the elephant, the cunning and strategy of Hanuman in the monkey -- but nowhere do we see an animal that reflects the Buddha?

With a nod the Tathagata gazed over the world with an omniscient eye, then described to Ananda an animal living on another continent that was the size of a monkey, owned only three toes on each foot, and was capable of hanging upside down from the treetops for weeks on end; that ate only the leaves rejected by other mammals; that had a metabolism so slow, it took a week to digest each meal; that put up with pain and indignity without complaint, and was constitutionally incapable of haste.

This shirt is not presently on their site, but look out for it - and check out the other great designs.

SEAS NV even started a Zazzle store while I was there. Here's a link to the NiqiPool's Gallery at Zazzle, which will hopefully help bring additional income to the people who are trying to make their own part of the world a better place.

Would that we all did that.

Expect some posts about self-sustaining NGOs in the future based on conversations Monique and I have had, and will probably continue to have.