The Sloth Mystery That Is The Night!

By KSTR Research Internist Tom Lawrence

As a research assistant studying the behaviour of two-toed sloths at KSTR I have had to make the transition to a nocturnal lifestyle working between 6pm and 6am. Two-toed sloths are nocturnal so the only way to study them was to become nocturnal myself.  Approaching this job with the idea of spending the night out in the jungle amongst the crickets and the stars seemed a very pleasant change from the bright lights and constant bustle of the London night. Now three months into this role I am happy and comfortable but the first few weeks were a steep learning curve. I found out that night time in the jungle is very mysterious and can even be deadly.

The sloths are in a boot camp, a pre-release area of walled-in jungle. The safety of the walls made the nights, in no way, easier. The first problem I faced was managing to convince myself that not every rustle was some huge animal stalking me or someone creeping up behind me. Sounds from the trees which in the day bring no cause for alarm now seem like the most terrifying things possible. Every sound made me swivel around with my torch expecting some toothed beast to be staring right at me. Having worked with big cats in Bolivia I knew the power and ferocity they possess. Knowing they won’t approach humans and aren’t even in the area, did not make things easier. This was not my only problem. Wild kinkajous climbing from tree to tree made sounds that belied their small size. The animals in the sanctuary made sounds and clattered around their enclosures; the walls of boot camp seemed to have a life of their own, banging every few minutes and constantly putting me on edge that something was trying to get in. As you can imagine, the combination of all these things is a lot to take in.

After the first week I started not turning around at every sound and began to grow much more comfortable. Following and watching the sloths gave me a chance to explore the jungle. What I found that was not delightful; spiders that were bigger and various insects that felt like the size of my head would continuously bombard into my head torch. I’ve even had the pleasure of encountering four fer-de-lances! Unfortunately two of these encounters (one snake managed to get into boot camp and the other managed to get inside an enclosure) have involved the death of two of our rescue animals.

Three months into this role I am now much more comfortable being out and about working at night and I almost look forward to these animal encounters. Although it was scary initially I have a new found appreciation for the life of a nocturnal animal but I still think I prefer the day. Remember just because you go to sleep at night doesn’t mean everything else goes to sleep too!