Cats may be the reigning queens of the internet, but sloths are not far behind.
With a visage that appears to be smiling and a physiological need to cling, the slow-moving mammal, native to Central and South America, has been frequently memed and made into beloved animated characters. But lately sloths have been proliferating IRL, far outside their arboreal habitats. They can be fed, cuddled and photographed at animal parks and pet shops, often despite unclear provenance and lax adherence to safety and health rules.
Sloths join big-eared fennec foxes and baby-faced kinkajous as star attractions in the growing range of venues where interactions with animals — the more exotic and up-close the better — underpin the business model. The number of those U.S.D.A.-licensed exhibitors almost doubled from 2019 to 2021, with over 1,000 sloths inspected annually in the last two years. According to federal data, the risk of animal deaths and disease outbreaks has increased. So have human injuries — and the concerns of experts and state agencies.
“The desire for proximity — to touch, to feel the immediate presence of animals — is very old,” said Nigel Rothfels, a historian who studies zoos. “Perhaps we are hard-wired for it. But the access and demand have increased.”
Whether it’s at an iffy roadside stand (think “Tiger King”) or a well-established institution’s “backstage tour,” the encounters often wind up, by design, on social media. That visibility normalizes hugging critters — but many animal experts say it shouldn’t.
Research shows that depicting interactions can mislead the public into thinking the animals could be pets, or question whether they’re really endangered. “Put simply, viewing animals in contact with people has the potential to influence negative beliefs about wildlife and conservation,” said Sally Sherwen, the director of wildlife conservation and science at Zoos Victoria, a conservation-oriented network in Australia.