Meet the Incredible Woman Who Runs a Sloth Sanctuary Out of Her Home!

Living in a house filled with sloths sounds like a dream come true, right? Well, while you might be imagining a sloth-filled wonderland … this reality is actually a lot of work. Monique Pool knows first hand.

Around 10 years ago, Pool founded Green Heritage Fund Suriname in an effort to help the sloths who were losing their homes due to human encroachment and activities in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname. Once a thriving forest area, the city has become more and more developed over the years, leaving the forest greatly fragmented and sadly, the sloths with no where to go. One of the largest threats to the sloth species is habitat loss. These animals spend the majority of their lives in trees that provide them with shelter from predators and food. As forests are cut down and roads and buildings take their place in Paramaribo, sloths are forced into contact with humans which can end either as them becoming pets or losing their lives entirely.

Life Slothified

Pool’s adventure into life with sloths started when she lost her dog, Sciolo. After calling the Suriname Animal Protection Society to see if they had found a dog roaming the street, she was told there was no dog in sight, but they did have an orphaned baby sloth who was in need of a foster home. With that, Pool became the proud foster caretaker of Loesje, an infant three-toed sloth. Seeking out the expertise of Judy Arroyo, from Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, Pool learned how to care for the baby sloth. Sadly, after two years Loesje passed away, but from his memory came Green Heritage Fund of Suriname.

In time, Pool became to go-to caretaker for orphaned sloths in the area. At one point, she was charged with around 200 sloths! She coined the word “slothified” to describe this experience, it completely captures the feeling of being overwhelmed by both the cuteness of sloths and also the huge responsibility that comes with caring for them.

 Because Pool’s transition into the role as sloth-heroine was rather fast, she has never had the time to create a proper care center for the sloths, until now they have all been cared for right in her home!

“When you say rehabilitation centre, it actually means, my house,” Pool tells One Green Planet, “We are hoping to have a rehabilitation center in the forest soon.”

Pool explains that she once cared for a male three-toed sloth, Wimpy, who had been brought in for care after he was found with his claws clipped all the way to sensitive flesh of his nail beds. Because sloths have an incredibly slow metabolism, it takes them a very long time for them to grow nails. Without his claws, Wimpy could not climb and was essentially defenseless. He lived in Pool’s bathroom for two years waiting for his nails to regrow!

“Wimpy, for a wild sloth, was reasonably relaxed, and lived in our bathroom,” says Pool, “He would very happily sit on the towel rack, sleep and eat, and did not even mind when we at a certain moment gave him five more roommates. So they would sit all in the bathroom on the towel rack or hanging from it. I never heard them fight.”

When you get used to walking into your bathroom and spotting six sloths hanging from the towel racks, that certainly means you have adjusted to life, slothified. But Pool presses the fact that sloths do not make for good pets. Although Wimpy may have enjoyed the simple life on a towel rack, once he was eligible for release he went happily back to the forest.

“We cannot provide them with the richness of the forest,” explains Pool, which is why release is such an important part of what she does for sloths. Once they are healed and strong they are set free in a safe portion of the forest, “so that they can live their life as it was intended, in freedom.”

A New Sanctuary

In addition to sloths, Pool also cares for anteaters and armadillos, but sloths are the most frequent residents.

“In general, we receive healthy animals that have lost their homes, and need to maybe stay for a few days to a few weeks to get strong again, so that they can be released,” says Pool.

In an effort to expand their rescue and release program, Green Heritage Fund Suriname has launched an IndieGoGo campaign to help build a sloth sanctuary in the forest outside of Paramaribo. Most of the sloths that come to Pool for care originate in the city, so by offering them a sanctuary outside of the city walls they can experience life in a forest and eventually go off and live on their own.

“[Sloths] are losing their habitat. Especially in the city where there remain a few forest fragments, these teem with life, because the animals get concentrated in it,” explains Pool, “We are now trying to also save some of these forest fragments, which would be good for both animals and humans alike.”

The goal is to build an Xenarthra Rehabilitation Center that will allow Pool and her team to care for eight urgent care animals, like orphaned infants or severely injured animals. They will also run a series of educational programs in the center that will allow locals to come and learn about these creatures, and hopefully leave feeling inspired to act in their protection.

Saving the sloths means more than just rescuing those in need, it means preserving their natural environment and the jungle region of Suriname as well.

“We are currently also discussing with the government the possibility of an area that would be set aside for animals like this, who have lost their home,” Pool tells One Green Planet.

Check out this video to see Pool and the sloths in action:

You can help Green Heritage Fund Suriname build their center for sloths by donating to the IndieGoGo campaign here. To learn more about this amazing organization and Monique Pool, check out their website and Facebook page.

Images Soures: Green Heritage Fund Suriname