Notes

To lure in a female sloth and to let them know around that area a male is ready to reproduce, a male uses ana secretion on tree branches. Once a female knows that around that area a male is ready to reproduce, she releases a loud high pitched scream that can be heard from miles away. When a male hears this scream, he makes this way towards her and if multiple male sloths are going at once, they start to fight over the female and the winner gets to reproduce with her. They start to reproduce by licking each other and rubbing genitals against each other. Once the sloth is pregnant, their gestation period is 11 and a half months. When giving birth, the sloth gives birth upside down and only gives birth to one sloth baby. The mama sloth also cleans the baby upside down and usually give birth around spring or summer when food is more plentiful. A baby sloth is born with fur and claws to help the baby cling onto its mothers belly. The mom protects her young from predators by scratching and biting their enemy. The mom also shows her young what good food to eat and helps feed it. After the 2nd week of the baby sloth's birth, it starts to eat by itself. It takes them 5 months to fully develop their strength to hang from trees and they dont have to cling onto their mom's belly anymore. The baby sloth usually stays with the mother for 9 months and has a choice to stay longer. The baby sloth only moves a couple of trees away from it's birth area when it's ready to live by itself. For a female to mate, they have to be 2 years old and for a male to mate they have to be 3 or 4 years old. and then the life cycle starts over.