Separated from mom, baby sloth was crying alone on the forest floor — until rescuers played simple recording and mom came back running

The team’s initial effort to reunite the pair failed, as the mother was already making her way up the trees.

PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO

(L) A team of animal rescuers in a forest; (R) A mother sloth with baby sloth. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Vera Tikhonova; (R) Kevin Schafer)

Rescue stories involving wildlife always manage to tug at our hearts, especially when they highlight the emotional bond between mothers and their young. Recently, a heartwarming video of a baby sloth being reunited with its mother in Costa Rica has gone viral, touching thousands of people worldwide. As reported by Fox News, the moment was captured by staff at the Jaguar Rescue Center and shared through a Facebook post, quickly becoming a sensation. This heartwarming video, which has garnered more than 947,000 reactions and 186,000 shares, per the outlet, highlights the emotional nature of sloth motherhood.

A mother sloth with baby sloth. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Kevin Schafer)

On May 10, a staff member at the Jaguar Rescue Center, located in Costa Rica’s Playa Chiquita, found a baby sloth crying on the ground near the beach. Upon further investigation, the staff member spotted the mother sloth in a nearby tree, but she had already begun climbing away from the area. The baby sloth was then taken to the center for a check-up, where it was confirmed to be healthy and unharmed. The team’s initial effort to reunite the pair failed, as the mother was already making her way up the trees.

A sloth hanging on a tree in Costa Rica. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Harry Collins)

Determined to bring the pair back together, the staff came up with a creative plan. They recorded the baby’s cries and played the sound near the tree where the mother had been spotted. This strategy worked, and soon after, the mother sloth descended the tree and retrieved her baby. "We waited patiently until the mom came down for the baby," shared one of the rescuers. The short 39-second video captures the moment the mother comes down, tenderly picks up her baby from the staff member, and embraces it in a heartfelt reunion.

A woman holding a sloth baby. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | RPB Media)

Brown-throated three-toed sloths, like the one in the video, raise their young alone for up to 12 months, as reported by The Sloth Conservation Foundation. The Jaguar Rescue Center, based in Costa Rica’s Limón Province, has been instrumental in rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned and injured animals, including sloths. Their work continues to be a vital part of the conservation efforts for these fascinating creatures, especially in a country that is home to an estimated five million sloths.

In another rescue story highlighting the efforts to protect wildlife, a freight train in Jharkhand was halted to allow a pregnant elephant to safely deliver her calf on the tracks. The incident unfolded at 3 a.m. when forest authorities were informed of the elephant’s distress along the tracks running through the state’s forested area. The coal-carrying train, moving between Barkakana and Hazaribag, was stopped for two hours to ensure the safety of both the mother and her newborn. Since this stretch is mainly used for goods trains, no passenger services were affected. Divisional forest officer Nitish Kumar shared that a forest guard informed them of the situation, prompting an immediate request to halt all train movement. This act is part of ongoing efforts to reduce human-elephant conflicts in the region, where over 447 wildlife casualties have been reported in the last five years.