Number of Pygmy Sloths in Panama Greater Than Previously Thought
Posted on July 4, 2015
Scientists have discovered there are more pygmy sloths Bradypus pygmaeus) in Panama than previously thought. However, the increase will not change the critically endangered status. The pygmy sloths live only on Panama's Escudo de Veraguas Island.
The pygmy sloth was thought to only live in the mangrove trees located on the fringes of the island. Bryson Voirin, a former fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, found that the sloths also wander inland and inhabit the island's forested interior. An estimate based on a count of pygmy sloths in mangroves only put the number of pygmy sloths on the island at under 500. A high-end estimate using Vorin's count puts the number at nearly 3,200. The actual number is thought to be somewhere between these two numbers.
Voirin, a researcher at Germany's Max Planck Institute of Ornithology, says in a statement, "The actual population size is most likely somewhere between these two -- perhaps 500 to 1,500 individuals. In any case, this is extremely small number for an entire species."
The pygmy was first described in 2001 by researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History as separate from its mainland sister species, B. variegatus. It is threated by developers who want to build things like a casino and hotel on the island. It is also threated by unregulated timber harvesting.
Here is a video of baby pygmy sloths from Nature on PBS. The video explains how the babies learn to climb from their mothers. Infants that have been raised in captivity without mothers can still climb but end up with a fear of heights. Take a look: