Drusillas Zoo calls for action after witnessing wild sloth electrocution

The idea of visiting the South Caribbean typically drums up serene imagery of idyllic beaches, lush rainforest, and sipping cocktails out of coconuts. But for one duo, the trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica to work with wild sloths quickly turned from heaven to heartbreak, as they witnessed firsthand the devastation facing the wildlife in paradise – a sloth electrocuted by poorly insulated powerlines.

Gemma Romanis and Tamara Nasser from Drusillas Zoo Park in Sussex, embarked on the 5000-mile trip to Puerto Viejo as part of the zoo’s conservation outreach initiative, to meet and work alongside their charity partner The Sloth Conservation Foundation (SloCo). Whilst out sloth tracking for one of SloCo’s research projects, they were alerted by panicked passersby of an emergency situation just a few hundred yards away; a Hoffman’s two-fingered sloth who had mistaken live power lines for tree canopy and suffered horrific electrocution, instantly scorching parts of its fur, leaving exposed flesh wounds on its arms, legs, and face.

Running to assist, the team witnessed the visibly distressed animal moments after the electrocution, scrambling around on the ground of the private property into which it had fallen. Instinctively wanting to run and hide from the growing crowd of onlookers, the injured sloth tried to climb up nearby trees, only to keep falling and slumping to the floor in exhaustion and pain.

Urban Sloth Project Manager, José García, carefully managed the situation until the local wildlife rescue team arrived, “the sloth was clearly very weak, and I could see severe burns on its left arm, left leg, and down the face. We stayed to ensure no one tried to interfere with the sloth causing it further distress, and so the sloth didn’t climb too high to be easily caught to take to the emergency vets.”

“On speaking to the owner of the property, she told me that just a few weeks ago another sloth died on the same part of the power lines, so this is not the first time this has happened, and it won’t be the last.”

This sloth is just one of 3,000 animals electrocuted every year in Costa Rica, and the country is thought to have lost approximately 50% of its arboreal mammal populations as a result. Virtually all power lines in Costa Rica are poorly insulated and animals living in trees can simply climb down onto the lines from the overhanging canopy.

Over half of the electrocuted animals are sloths, and the mortality rate following an electrocution is about 70% due to multi-organ failure after the animal’s core body temperature soars to over 43°C. If the sloth somehow survives beyond the initial electrocution, the rehabilitation process usually involves the amputation of limbs which leaves the individual unable to return to the wild.

Drusillas’ Headkeeper Gemma Romanis, who has cared for sloths for over a decade, spoke shortly after witnessing the incident: “We travelled here to immerse ourselves in the work that SloCo are doing so we can better understand what actions we can take back in the UK to save sloths from extinction. But I’m absolutely speechless about what I saw today, I really did not expect to see firsthand the threats sloths are facing. What urbanisation is doing to sloths in the wild is truly heartbreaking.”

“But today also shows the importance of the work that SloCo are doing. Today’s horrible incident is sadly the norm of what sloths are facing every day just to simply move from tree to tree and we need to work together to change it.”

During a single week working with SloCo in Puerto Viejo in December last year, Tamara and Gemma reported witnessing sloths hanging from power lines on three separate occasions.

The Sloth Conservation Foundation, headed up by founder Dr Rebecca Cliffe, are a collective of scientists and conservationists carrying out research and conservation projects to counteract the effects of urbanisation and secure a future for sloths.

Through their Power Line Insulation Project SloCo is campaigning to fund the raw materials needed to insulate electricity lines, poles and transformers in collaboration with the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) and stop electrocutions from happening.

In addition, the Sloth Crossing Project aims to give sloths and other arboreal animals a safe way to travel by installing Sloth Crossing canopy bridges across roads and between habitat fragments in disturbed areas.

SloCo are also embarking on the first ever sloth census, which could reclassify wild sloths on the IUCN list from their current status of ‘least concern’. Without vital data to evidence the decline in sloth populations, they are at real threat of disappearing without us noticing.

The trip comes amid a recent push from Drusillas to increase their global conservation efforts. They are in the application stage of launching The Drusillas Conservation In Action charitable fund, which will empower them to contribute more widely to species survival.