Want to See a Sloth in the Wild? Visit Manu National Park

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on June 25, 2025

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Want to See a Sloth in the Wild? Visit Manu National Park

🌿 Ever dreamed of seeing a sloth in the wild?

Then Manu National Park in Peru should be at the top of your travel list.

Located deep in the Amazon rainforest, Manu is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site — it’s also one of the best places on Earth to spot wildlife in its natural habitat.

🐾 From river boat rides to jungle treks, every moment brings you closer to nature.

Most importantly, if you’re lucky and patient, you might catch a glimpse of one of the rainforest’s most iconic and slowest residents: the three-toed sloth.

So if you’re looking for an unforgettable adventure, filled with biodiversity and quiet magic…

✈️ Visit Manu. See the wild. Meet the sloth – AMAZON PERU TRAVELLERS.

Meet the Sloth Bear in the Manu National Reserve: Questions and Answers for Travelers

The Manu National Reserve, in the Peruvian Amazon, is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Among its many inhabitants, one fascinating and mysterious animal stands out: the sloth bear. Want to know more? Here we answer the most frequently asked questions so you can prepare for your trip with all the information you need.

🐾 What exactly is the sloth bear in Manu?

Although popularly called the “sloth bear,” this animal is not a bear. It is an arboreal mammal that spends most of its life in the treetops. In Peru, it is also known as the sloth or, in some places, as the light-footed sloth.

Scientific names: Bradypus variegatus (three-toed sloth) and Choloepus hoffmanni (two-toed sloth).
Classification: Arboreal mammal.
Habitat: Humid tropical forests, such as those that make up the Manu National Reserve.

🌿 What are the sloth’s most striking characteristics?

Movement: Very slow, with an average speed of 0.27 km/h. It only comes down once a week to defecate.
Diet: It is herbivorous and feeds on leaves, shoots, and fruits.
Camouflage: Its fur is home to green algae, which helps it blend in with the foliage and avoid predators.
Activity: Mostly nocturnal and solitary, it rests almost all day.
Predators: Its main natural enemies are the harpy eagle, jaguars, and large snakes.

🧭 Where and how can I see a sloth in the Manu Reserve?

Spotting a sloth is no easy task, as its slow movement and excellent camouflage make it almost invisible among the branches of the Manu jungle. Ideal places to spot one in the Manu jungle:

Lowland tropical forest (Manu lowland forest), especially in areas such as Cocha Salvador and Cocha Otorongo.
During guided walks in the terra firme forest, accompanied by expert naturalists within the jungle.
On wildlife observation tours, where guides know how to locate them by looking at the high treetops in the jungle.

🧠 Did you know these interesting facts about the sloth?

– Professional sleeper: It can sleep up to 20 hours a day.

– A mobile ecosystem: Its fur not only serves as camouflage, but is also a small ecosystem home to algae, insects, and even medicinal mushrooms.

– It’s not a bear: Although its name may be confusing, the sloth is more closely related to the armadillo and the anteater than to real bears.

– The sloth is the only animal named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins. For decades, they have been classified as the weakest animals in the world, something that isn’t entirely true. In fact, these mammals are pure resilience, as they have demonstrated throughout their evolutionary history. Here are some interesting facts about them.

– They spend most of their time hanging from trees: Sloths spend 90% of their lives hanging from trees. They can do this, researchers have discovered, because their organs are attached to their rib cage, so they don’t weigh down their lungs. Unlike humans, these animals can remain upside down for long periods of time without affecting their breathing. They even reproduce in this position. They only come down to the ground to relieve themselves, something they don’t usually do very often: only once a week.

– They are classified based on the number of toes on their claws: There are currently six species of sloths alive, which we can identify based on their number of toes: Hoffman’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), pygmy sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus), black-tufted sloth (Bradypus torquatus); bay sloth (Bradypus variegatus), and caimancito (Bradypus tridactylus). Two-toed sloths are slightly larger than their tridactyl counterparts. They even belong to a different taxonomic family.

– They are daylight blind: One of the characteristics of these animals is that they are completely blind in broad daylight. Since they are active at night and spend most of the day in the shade, they are accustomed to the darkness, but they do not tolerate light as well, and are completely blind in bright light. Furthermore, they suffer from monochromatic vision, that is, they lack cone cells in their eyes, which makes them colorblind.

– Their slowness helps them survive in the wild: It is true that sloths are incredibly slow mammals. They often remain motionless among the branches and usually sleep about 15 hours a day. This behavior may seem risky in a tropical rainforest full of predators. However, this strategy works perfectly for them. These mammals compensate for their low-energy diet of leaves by adopting a slow pace of life and expending as little energy as possible. Furthermore, let’s remember that the group to which they belong, the folivores, has existed for more than 65 million years, even before the disappearance of the dinosaurs, which shows that having a slow pace of life can also be a good survival strategy in nature.

– Their fur is a microcosm: The fur of sloths is a true living microcosm that hosts a myriad of different organisms, from microbes and insects to fungi and algae. Even the entire life cycle of some moth species, such as Cryptoses choloepi dyar, depends almost exclusively on these animals. When a sloth descends to the forest floor to defecate, the females lay their eggs in the dung. Once the adults emerge from the dung, they fly to the treetops to mate in the sloth’s fur, and the whole cycle begins again. Not only that. Sloths also have a special symbiotic relationship with green algae, organisms that provide food and shelter for these mammals. Their algae-covered fur helps them blend in with their surroundings, making them almost invisible to their natural predators.

– They are excellent swimmers: As we’ve said, sloths are extremely slow on land, but surprisingly, they are good swimmers. They sometimes drop into the water from treetops. They use their long arms to swim forward. In fact, they are faster in water than on land.

– Although it may not seem like it, they have incredible strength: Despite their appearance and speed, sloths have incredible strength. From birth, they are able to lift their entire body weight with just one arm. (Try it yourself.) In addition, they have 30% less muscle mass than similarly sized mammals and are more than three times stronger than humans.