There’s romance, rivalry and royalty. And that’s only the beginning.

In a takeoff on Meerkat Manor, Animal Planet last week aired the first installment of its 8-week series on the secret lives of the residents of the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, Meet the Sloths.

 The 20-year-old sanctuary is home to more than 150 orphaned and injured sloths who are cared for by nursery manager Claire Trimer, sloth scientist Becky Cliffe and sanctuary co-founder Judy Avey-Arroyo.

“Together, they’re unraveling the secrets of one of the world’s most enigmatic creatures,” says a promo for the show.

The first installment of the series focused on Buttercup, the matriarch of the rescue. The three-fingered sloth was a baby when she was orphaned and taken in by Avey-Arroyo and her husband. They learned all they could about caring for the slow and sedentary animal, and quickly earned a reputation as the people to go to when a sloth needed help. They became an authorized rescue center in 1997.

Referred to as the queen, Buttercup’s favorite perch is a hanging wicker basket-chair, which was part of the plot line in the first episode, as her keepers attempted to replace it with a new one.

Meet the Sloths airs Saturday mornings on Animal Planet.

Read more Vetstreet articles featuring sloths.