Sloth Sanctuary Suriname sequel: the whole story!

So, have you ever wondered what our day looks like as a sloth rescuer? Well, this is a typical day in our week. We are at the office, handling administrative work, drafting reports, and preparing proposals for new actions. This particular day, I had an interview with a foreign journalist and her photographer about our work and Suriname. And in the middle of this meeting, I receive a call. The caller had obtained our number from the Zoo because they leave all Xenarthrans to us. The kind gentleman told me that a tree was going to be cut down on Gongrijp Street, which is really in the middle of our capital, Paramaribo. And he was worried because there was a large animal in the tree. I asked the journalist and photographer if they were interested in seeing what a rescue looks like. And they enthusiastically say yes. Upon arrival, the animal was in a tall almond tree, and we couldn't reach it. Shaking vines, we got the animal to move to another tree, but it was still too high. The caller told us they had recently cleared a plot of about 1000 m2 behind his house, and he suspects the animal had been living there. The tree fellers were working on another tree, so we had to wait. And then something fortunate happened. While waiting, it started raining heavily, prompting the two-fingered sloth to move. They do not like the heavy rain and strong winds we have noticed. Eventually, she started descending from the tree completely. In the meantime, we relocated ourselves to the street behind Gongrijp Street, to Prinsesse Street, and the sloth began moving back towards Gongrijp Street. We had moved to the cleared plot at Prinsesse Street to keep the animal in sight.

Suddenly, I saw my colleague Ginny making a run for it in the pouring rain. She jumped on a wall and was basically running after the animal. She later told me she feared the animal would go up another high tree. The photographer also made a run for it, climbing on and over walls. Only later did we find out she had vertigo. Eventually, the animal reached a young almond tree, and by shaking the tree, we brought the animal down using a thin branch and a net. She was very stressed and angry, something we completely understood. She had recently lost her house, and now we were also putting her in a small cage. In the evening, when I went to feed her some apples, she had calmed down completely and, surprisingly, gently grabbed my hand to bring the apple to her mouth. The animal seemed starved, and as if she had tasted an apple before, she started eating everything I gave her. The following morning, I found that she had finished all the apples. And when I began feeding her again, she was happy to eat more. That same day, we transferred her to our center. She continued enjoying our food and was extremely gentle and calm. When we released her, she was relaxed and not even making a run for it. I could call this rescue a model for how it should go. Where the animal understands that we are there to help her. We thank you for making these rescues possible by donating to support our work.