Zoo Atlanta sloth becomes new dad, again, on Father’s Day

ATLANTA — Right in time for Father’s Day, Zoo Atlanta’s 30-year-old Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth Cocoa got to be a dad again.

Zoo officials said Cocoa, and new mom Nutella, had a baby on June 18. The infant sloth is another baby for Cocoa, and 6-year-old Nutella’s first.

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Unlike other mammals, sloths are pregnant for 11 to 12 months, according to Zoo Atlanta, and the pregnancies are hard to confirm without an X-ray or ultrasound.

The famously slow sloths are fast to develop, once born, according to Zoo officials, and babies are born fully furred and with their eyes open, mouth full of teeth, and claws ready to cling to mom.

Bonnie, the other female sloth at Zoo Atlanta is also pregnant, with birth expected in the coming weeks, according to the Zoo.

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It’ll be her third child, with her two older daughters Willow and Raisin living at other zoos.

“We are delighted about the birth of Nutella’s infant, especially on Father’s Day,” said Jennifer Mickelberg, PhD, Vice President of Collections and Conservation. “Among mammals, sloths are unusual in almost every way. Our ability to share their adaptations with our Members and guests is one of the many ways we have of creating connections that help our visitors understand that Earth’s biodiversity is vast, many-layered, and deserving of our protection.”

Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths are native to Central and South America, and not currently deemed endangered. However, zoo officials said their wild populations face mounting threats due to human activity, like habitat loss from illegal logging, and electrocution from trying to use power lines to travel across “fragmented” forest patches.

Zoo Atlanta said Nutella and her new baby can be seen every day, if the weather’s good, at the Zoo’s summer sloth habitat in the KIDZone.

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