Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica | |
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9°47′58″N 82°54′54″W / 9.799565°N 82.915112°W | |
Date opened | 1997 |
Location | Limón Province, Costa Rica |
Website | slothsanctuary.com |
The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica ( Spanish: Santuario de Perezosos de Costa Rica) is a privately owned animal rescue center located near the city of Cahuita. The Sanctuary is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, research, and release of injured or orphaned sloths. [1] Tours of the Sanctuary are offered to the public.
After the 1991 Limon earthquake ended their birding tourism business, Judy Avey-Arroyo and her husband Luis Arroyo built a hotel on their property. [2] [1] In 1992, three girls brought the Arroyos an orphaned baby three-toed sloth. At the time, very little was known about sloth biology. By observing what the wild sloths on their property ate, the couple were able to hand-rear the sloth, named Buttercup, who lived in the Sanctuary until her death in 2019. [1] [2] [3] In 1997, the Sanctuary was officially recognized as a rescue center, becoming Costa Rica's first sloth-only facility. [1]
The lives of the Sanctuary's sloth residents were documented in the 2013 Animal Planet television series, Meet the Sloths. [4] In 2016, two former employees accused the Sanctuary of animal mistreatment, which Avey-Arroyo denied. [5] [6]
Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica | |
---|---|
| |
9°47′58″N 82°54′54″W / 9.799565°N 82.915112°W | |
Date opened | 1997 |
Location | Limón Province, Costa Rica |
Website | slothsanctuary.com |
The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica ( Spanish: Santuario de Perezosos de Costa Rica) is a privately owned animal rescue center located near the city of Cahuita. The Sanctuary is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, research, and release of injured or orphaned sloths. [1] Tours of the Sanctuary are offered to the public.
After the 1991 Limon earthquake ended their birding tourism business, Judy Avey-Arroyo and her husband Luis Arroyo built a hotel on their property. [2] [1] In 1992, three girls brought the Arroyos an orphaned baby three-toed sloth. At the time, very little was known about sloth biology. By observing what the wild sloths on their property ate, the couple were able to hand-rear the sloth, named Buttercup, who lived in the Sanctuary until her death in 2019. [1] [2] [3] In 1997, the Sanctuary was officially recognized as a rescue center, becoming Costa Rica's first sloth-only facility. [1]
The lives of the Sanctuary's sloth residents were documented in the 2013 Animal Planet television series, Meet the Sloths. [4] In 2016, two former employees accused the Sanctuary of animal mistreatment, which Avey-Arroyo denied. [5] [6]