The Sloth Classroom Enclosure

What is the Toucan Rescue Ranch?

The Toucan Rescue Ranch (TRR) is a licensed rescue facility in Costa Rica that saves injured or illegally traded birds and mammals. TRR’s mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and release Costa Rican wildlife. The Toucan Rescue Ranch works with a model that focuses on conservation, education and research to provide a brighter tomorrow to the incredible animals of our tropical rainforests.  TRR works alongside the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE), a Costa Rican government agency, that focuses on the improvement of all life by promoting management, conservation and sustainable development. MINAE calls on the Ranch to take in a wide variety of animal rescue cases such as toucans, owls, sloths and a variation of other wildlife.

Why do we have Sloths called High Schoolers?

Sloths are brought to the Toucan Rescue Ranch for various reasons. Common incidents include electrocution from powerlines, car accidents, dog attacks, and human encroachment such as deforestation and the illegal pet trade. Oftentimes, baby sloths suffer from injuries and the loss of their mother from said incidents. Sometimes babies are found abandoned by their mother for unknown reasons. This is when TRR steps in. We rescue these hurt sloths and give them a second shot at life with the goal of releasing them back into the wild once “graduated” from the rehabilitation and release program.

Stages of the Release Program: 

Pre-school: Newborn to 3-months old. Focus is on growing and drinking their milk! Start to taste various solid foods but isn't a main diet staple yet. 

Elementary School: Less than 6-months old. At this stage the focus is on eating more solids and getting more climbing practice while still staying close to the nursery for warmth and milk.

Middle School: 6-months to 1-year. Solids make up most of the diet at this point. Focus on climbing more, becoming more nocturnal and being more independent. 

High School: 1-year - 1.5-years focus is on weaning off of milk and growing large enough and independent enough for the "classroom" enclosure. 

College: 1.5-years plus, graduate to the Pre-Release Enclosure - focus on eating more wild foods, weather, environmental changes, total independence etc.

With The Sloth Institute’s Help: 

TRR and The Sloth Institute of Costa Rica (TSI) teamed-up to help release more of TRR’s rescued and orphaned sloths. TSI is a research-based non-profit whose mission is to expand the scientific knowledge and education about sloths to enhance sloths’ well-being and assure their conservation. This collaboration has allowed the Toucan Rescue Ranch to expand our release efforts to more of the orphaned and rehabilitated juvenile sloths we receive.  The program will now encompass the necessary personnel, tools, research and procedures needed to successfully reintroduce many more sloths at our Release Site, an environment rich with sloth activity. TRR and TSI’s partnership has added to TRR’s existing release record of 30+ sloths and enables us to evaluate our current adult and orphaned sloths to help expand our sloth release efforts.

Why do we need a Classroom?

Essentially, we need another enclosure at the Release Site to reinforce the skills that they’ve learned in high school at headquarters such a climbing, eating, sleeping in proper postures, eliminating caretaker contact and growing into a completely independent sloth. This enclosure will be used as an “in-between” safe space for the juveniles before they graduate to the final stage before being released.  

YOU Can Help Sloths Today: 

His Holiness the Dalai Lama once said, "Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures." Life is precious and this lesson is taught to TRR every day when working with Costa Rica’s incredible wildlife. 

At TRR our motto has always been to rescue, rehabilitate, love and liberate. We’ve now worked with sloths for a decade and what these animals have shown us is to be patient, relax, enjoy the little things and to never stop fighting even when all odds are against you.  We know these animals rejoice in happiness and fear pain, that they wish to live and not die – that they deserve the best life and that life is in the wild.

We strive to provide the best care possible. To rescue, rehabilitate and release the wildlife brought to us. Whether it is the entire rainforest or just one animal, all are valued equally. As a charitable non-profit organization, donations are inevitably a working part of the overall success of the Ranch and its ability to care for its animals. 

Simply put: without your help, we cannot help them. We hope you celebrate with us this #InternationalSlothMonth (and beyond) to create a brighter tomorrow for these special animals.

With Slothie Thanks,

The Toucan Rescue Ranch