Orphaned Baby Sloth Refuses to Let Go of Teddy He Thinks Is His Mom

Whether an animal becomes an orphan or not is obviously not their choice: nature takes its course, and there's rarely anything us humans can do about it. All we can hope to do is get there in time to save the baby before it's too late.

One lucky orphaned baby sloth was scheduled for some outdoor enrichment time on August 24th, and his human caretaker let him bring his emotional support teddy bear outside for it. However, when it was time to transfer over to the tree, Molé had other plans:

Kyle Thomas is lucky to get to be Molé's caretaker. He's so cute, I'd love to stare at him and his emotional support teddy) all day!

Related: Baby Sloth Makes Playful 'Meeps' While Climbing a Rope for a Snack

Molé is specifically a Costa Rican two-toed sloth, and Kyle came over from the UK to visit him. He runs his own wildlife rescue back home, and he's really become attached to Molé, but he's still making making smart choices: wearing gloves to handle him and giving him something else to bond with (his teddy).

We don't know the specifics of Molé's rescue, only that he was orphaned and is now recovering and growing at a wildlife rescue in Costa Rica. He gets lots of outside time to climb trees, at least when he's not clutching his teddy for dear life! The rescue's care in making sure that Molé doesn't imprint on anyone gives him the best chance of staying "wild," thus making it to release.

How Do Baby Sloths Stay Alive?

We're not sure exactly how old Molé is; at least a few weeks. Typically, baby sloths are born and cling to their mothers for at least a few weeks, though it's often about 1.5 months. They hold onto her just like Molé holds onto his teddy, making sure they don't fall. They share leaves with her and learn more about what to eat, and soon enough, they start climbing onto surrounding branches.

Even so, they still come back to cling to their mother daily for around six months, typically at night. When they get too big, they still don't leave her: a baby sloth stays close to their mother until they're about a year old, and then they go off on their own. They follow their mother's every step until then, and it's through her that they learn their foraging knowledge.

If a baby sloth is orphaned, several things could go wrong:

1. Depending on their age, they may not be able to climb trees.
2. Without her, they take longer to learn what is and isn't safe to eat.
3. They could fall and injure themselves.
4. They don't have anywhere to hide from predators (clinging to her fur hides them well) and they become prey.

Luckily for Molé, he was swept up just in time, and the rescue is doing everything they can to keep him as "wild" as possible, even if they're letting him bring his teddy along for the ride. One day, he'll make a beautiful wild sloth!