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Rescuers Follow Tiny Squeaks to Sloth Baby on Ground, Place It Back in Sweet Mama Sloth's Claws

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Baby animals always seem to get themselves into trouble, and usually, this happens when they are separated from their mom.

Luckily for these little animal families, many rescuers are on patrol and ready to step in whenever needed.

Take this five-day-old elephant, for example, in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya, Africa. He had fallen into a muddy pond and was trapped.

Rescuers from the Trust and the Kenya Wildlife Service worked together to save the distressed animal from the pit. They lifted and pushed and pulled until finally, the elephant was free. Slowly attempting to stabilize its walk, the elephant stumbled around until it gained its footing. The crew assisted it back onto the dry land, moving it safely away from the mud pit.

As the rescuers began to drive away, the baby elephant looked around for its mother. All of a sudden, the baby’s mother charged toward it, overjoyed that her baby was alive.

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The Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, had to use similar tactics to reunite a baby sloth and its mother. Tiny little squeaks led them to the tiny sloth on the ground.

He probably either fell from the safe embrace of his sleeping mother or wandered off on his own.

When rescuers tried to hand him back to his mom, however, she was fast asleep and didn’t realize that her baby was gone.

Now, much like human moms, mother sloths are fine-tuned to be able to hear their baby’s cry, and the rescue team hatched a plan to use this fact to their advantage.

They recorded the baby sloth’s cries and played them over a loudspeaker for the mother to hear. After just the first squeak, the mother was roused from her deep sleep and immediately began searching for her child.

After final one loud squeak, she turned around and slowly reached out a long arm to take her baby back from the rescuers.

The little baby latched on and climbed into his mother’s lap, giving her a kiss on the way up.



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Mom certainly was happy to have her baby back! She nuzzled him all the way back into a perfect cuddling position where he would hopefully be safe again. A huge thank you to rescuers who look out for these creatures!

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Erin Coates was an editor for The Western Journal for over two years before becoming a news writer. A University of Oregon graduate, Erin has conducted research in data journalism and contributed to various publications as a writer and editor.
Erin Coates was an editor for The Western Journal for over two years before becoming a news writer. She grew up in San Diego, California, proceeding to attend the University of Oregon and graduate with honors holding a degree in journalism. During her time in Oregon, Erin was an associate editor for Ethos Magazine and a freelance writer for Eugene Magazine. She has conducted research in data journalism, which has been published in the book “Data Journalism: Past, Present and Future.” Erin is an avid runner with a heart for encouraging young girls and has served as a coach for the organization Girls on the Run. As a writer and editor, Erin strives to promote social dialogue and tell the story of those around her.
Birthplace
Tucson, Arizona
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated with Honors
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, University of Oregon
Books Written
Contributor for Data Journalism: Past, Present and Future
Location
Prescott, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, French
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Health, Entertainment, Faith




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