Its camouflage worked.
Now, you have fallen
into the razor-sharp claws
of this terrifying creature.
Do not be fooled by its smiling face.
You are at death's door, my friend.
It’s time to fight for your life!
And they might grow
to be 60 cm (23 in) long.
They also sport massive, curved,
10 cm (4 in) long claws.
Yes, my friend,
sloths sometimes descend to the ground,
usually to poop,
which they do once a week.
But don't underestimate
this indolent animal.
It could take only a few minutes,
or hours,
for you to fall into the claws
of the world's slowest mammal.
Sloths are smart,
cool-headed creatures.
They move with such stealth
that algae grows on their fur,
tailoring their appearance
with a natural layer of green camouflage.
If you become distracted in the jungle,
you could be walking toward your death.
all the time.
A hungry sloth may be lurking
just above your head.
Sloths may not be as lazy
as some people think.
Captive sloths can sleep
up to 20 hours a day.
But recently,
German scientists studied the brainwaves
in Panamanian jungle sloths
and found that they only sleep
nine and a half hours a day.
So, to be safe,
stay alert for 14 and a half hours a day,
and never go out at night
since that’s when they hunt.
You wouldn’t want to get trapped
in their feeding frenzy.
Supposedly, they only eat plants.
But don't risk confronting
a voracious sloth.
They can eat so much
that 30% of their weight
is in the meal they’re digesting.
And it can take them a month
to digest some foods.
On land,
a sloth may not be
as fast as a cheetah.
They can walk about
38 m (125 ft) in a day,
but you don’t want to jump into the water
with one of these merciless creatures.
With their mighty arms,
which are even longer than their legs,
sloths are swimming machines.
They'll hunt you down
at a feverish pace
of 110 m (360 ft) a day.
Their extremely slow metabolisms
allow sloths to hold their breath
for up to 40 minutes.
Good luck escaping that.
You'd be better off
avoiding the water altogether.
As if all that wasn't enough,
sloths have an extra vertebra
that allows them to move their head
at a 270-degree angle.
You might think you're hiding
behind its back,
but it’s still able to spot you.
And once a sloth looks at you,
my friend, you’re trapped.
It can stay still for hours,
monitoring your every movement
with its round and happy-looking eyes.
And no, it won’t get bored anytime soon.
You'll need to stay out of its sight
all the time
unless you want to get caught
in an awkward staring match.
Some species of sloths are endangered
due to their habitat’s deforestation.
Without abundant, healthy trees,
sloths won’t have the shelter
and food sources they need to survive.
And what do they do then?
Do you want them crawling into your house?
Or hunting for plants in your garden?
Scratching your furniture
with their massive claws?
Sleeping for 20 hours a day on your sofa?
If you want to avoid that nightmare,
we need to fight deforestation now.
Phew.
Miraculously,
you have survived one of the cutest
challenges of nature.
Now, it is time to relax
and sleep for a while.
Or at least try to sleep.
But what if the trauma of this sloth attack
is keeping you awake?
How could you survive without sleep?
Let’s find out.