Environment
How to Design a City for Sloths
A conservation foundation in Costa Rica is trying to help the tree-dwelling mammals survive rapid urbanization by building road crossings.
A rescued sloth in Venezuela. The animals face growing pressure from development and deforestation in Central and South America.
Photographer: YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images
It’s hard to think of an animal less suited for jaywalking than a sloth.
As pedestrians, sloths do not walk as much as ooze, inching forward commando-style with their bellies to the ground, as if trying to dodge a museum’s laser-security system. From a distance, the 10 long minutes it takes an average sloth to walk across the street might look more like the end of a yoga class.