A baby sloth in Netherlands can’t live without his teddy bear quite literally. The sloth named Sjakie (pronounced “Sharkey”) is two months old and has been given the cuddly friend to help the baby survive.
Gert Janssen / DPA / Landov
According to keepers at the Burger’s Zoo in Netherlands, the sloth’s mother tried to take care of him but was not getting enough milk.
“After a few days we could hear sounds like he was really hungry,” park manager Wineke Schoo said. “And when we checked him out we saw that he was dehydrated so it was probably caused because the mother didn’t have enough milk.”
The keepers decided to raise the baby themselves and one of them took him home to feed milk every three hours. It is here that the keeper’s daughter thought of the idea of giving Sjakie a playmate. The two year old gifted him her teddy bear.
Gert Janssen / DPA / Landov
The teddy bear has now become the sloth’s most trusted companion, providing him with the comfortable cuddle it needs from time to time. As the sloth’s claws are too sharp, it cannot cling on to humans as well as to this stuffed option.
The zookeepers had earlier tried to give him other stuffed toys but he rejected all of them. They believe it is the teddy bear’s size that felt right to the sloth.
The baby will soon begin to crawl on its own, but the zoo staff say he will still go back to the teddy bear for comfort. The two year old who had an important role to play in saving the baby sloth, visits him often at the zoo.