The Washington , D.C.-based National Zoo is playing matchmaker for a yoke oftwo - toed acedia . AsSmithsonianreports , the zoo acquired a distaff slothfulness in December 2019 with a plan to geminate her with its longtime resident male . If successful , the new rearing political program will cross off the first time a slothfulness has been gestate at the zoo since 1984 .
Athena , a 1.5 - year - old sloth from the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin , Texas , made her public debut at the National Zoo onDecember 22 . She currently resides in the menagerie ’s Small Mammal House with a span of golden lion lion monkey and a green aracari , a type of toucan .
The fresh arrival is what the zoo hopes will be one half of a facts of life duo . The other half , a 34 - year - one-time tree sloth call Vlad , has live on at the National Zoo formany years . The zoological garden had antecedently tried mating him with a female tree sloth named Ms. Chips , but they never appeared to hit it off — and if they did , the stave was incognizant . Ms. Chipsdied two years ago without leaving any offspring .
Nurturing a kinship between two sloths is an appropriately deadening process . Before they were officially preface , Athena and Vlad became acquainted with each other ’s smell when the zoo staff trade their blankets . The first time they met aspect to face was through a mesh barrier . If they verbalize interest in spending more time together , the zoological garden will move them into the same display .
Even if the animate being do get along , they wo n’t be welcoming a new baby any clip soon . distaff sloth do n’t reach sexual due date until age 3 , so it will be another class and a one-half before any serious breeding efforts can begin . According to theNational Zoo , the laziness ’s conservation condition in the natural state is of " least business . " That intend the hereafter of the mintage does n’t hinge on Vlad and Athena ’s chemistry — but with decades having passed since a acedia was last born there , a new-sprung member of the species would be a welcome accession to the zoological garden .
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
