"Lightning" the pregnant sloth is a bit of a contradiction. The Cincinnati Zoo mammal can be feisty, and with changing hormone levels, doesn't want anything to do with her mate "Moe."
Twenty-one-year-old Moe has waited a long time for offspring. His first girlfriend died, and for the past two years he's been trying to get close to seven-year-old Lightning.
Their romantic rendezvous finally occurred, and pup No. 1 is on the way. The Zoo's Animal Team Leader Sarah Swanson blushed as she described their encounter. "There's a lot of sniffing and smelling and scent marking and they actually will kiss each other with their tongues and get a little frisky."
An ultrasound indicates that the pup is due in September or October and may be born in a bucket. This is Lightning's favorite place to hang out.
Little know facts about sloths:
- They're comfortable in water.
- Besides eating fruit and leaves, the zoo sloths like hard boiled eggs and corn on the cobb.
- Pups weight less than a half pound.
- They only go to the bathroom once a week.
- They exert zero energy when hanging.
https://vimeo.com/521624979" target="_blank">Watch a video of Lightning here.
https://vimeo.com/521742715">Lightning the Sloth at the Cincinnati Zoo from https://vimeo.com/user104126899">Ronny Salerno on Vimeo.
Lightning's personality is on the assertive side. "Sloths get this connotation that they're slow and that they kind of ball up a lot and just stay sedentary, but they can be very active," says Curator of Ambassador Animals Meredith Hughes. "And when a sloth wants to share that they don't want someone in their space, they can slash and move very quickly."
