Sid the sloth given round the clock care after mother taken ill

A tiny new addition is being hand-reared by keepers at Bristol Zoo Gardens. Sidone (Sid for short) is a five-week-old baby Linne's two-toed sloth, being cared for round the clock by a team of dedicated keepers. She was born to mother, Light Cap, and weighed around 500g (1.1lbs) at birth. But Light Cap was taken ill shortly after giving birth and had to receive veterinary treatment.

After a stay in the zoo’s on-site veterinary centre, Light Cap made a full recovery. However, she was no longer producing enough milk to feed her baby and keepers had no choice but to intervene to hand-rear Sid in order to save her. The youngster, who has been named after Sid the sloth in the popular Ice Age movie, is believed to be a girl, but sloths are very difficult to sex. She is being looked after by zoo keepers in a special room behind-the-scenes.

Now five weeks old, she weighs 537g (1.2lbs) and is growing well. But she has needed a lot of care from her keepers, including almost daily checks by the zoo vet. Bristol Zoo’s Overseer of Mammals, Rob Rouse said: “Four keepers have been intensively caring for Sid since she was three days old and we’re thrilled that she is doing so well. She is strong, healthy and very inquisitive, and she loves people.”

YouTube link.

Sid is fed every three to four hours with a combination of puppy milk formula and goat’s milk. She is also starting to take interest in vegetables such as cooked sweet potato and green beans. Until very recently, caring for the baby was a 24-hour job, as Rob explains: “When she was tiny, Sid needed feeding every two hours, day and night, so we took it in turns to feed her through the night. It has been a real team effort, hard work and very tiring, but seeing how well she is developing certainly makes it all worthwhile.”

There's a short video with Sid making baby sloth noises here.