Harry the Sloth at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Every Tuesday, we'll share a few fun animal facts with you from experts all over the country.

Today's experts: The Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Zoo Education Team work to find new ways to teach guests about the more than 2,000 animals that call the Florida theme park home, including Hoffman's Two-Toed Sloth.

  • Sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down. By looking up at the canopy instead of the ground, a sloth has a special perspective on the world.
  • Sloths are excellent swimmers. Despite being awkward on land, sloths have adapted to the rainy season and take advantage of the flooding to find new habitats.
  • Sloths are so slow that moss grows on them. The moss actually benefits the sloth by providing camouflage in the dense forest.  
  • Sloths spend up to 22 hours a day sleeping. This also makes them difficult to spot because they blend in and won’t move for hours.  
  • A sloth’s teeth never stop growing. This is necessary because a sloth continuously wears down its teeth as it chews on food.