By Monica Quesada **
Who hasn't dreamed about spending the day laying in a tree, eating when pleased you and watching others worry while feeling the tranquility of a life without responsibilities? I think we all have, even the little fellow I am about to introduce to you.
Have you ever seen a sloth? This particular mammal does lay all day long on tree branches, it eats whenever it wants, and it does sits around watching the world move very fast while, when it moves, it moves at 0.5 meters per minute.
But, don't let appearances deceive you. You might think that this animal is lazy, but that is just its nature. Sloths have only half as much muscle tissue as other animals of similar weight. On top of that, digesting food (a leaf based diet) can take up to a month because of their specialized slow-acting stomachs. So, if you were a sloth you would only move when necessary.
Also, when facing a predator (like a jaguar or a harpy eagle) running is not an option, because the fastest they can move is 4.5 meters per minute, so they try to defend themselves by clawing and biting, which is not very efficient against big predators. Once more they will move only when necessary to avoid attracting attention from undesirables.
At this point you might ask yourself what is the role of the sloth in nature. You might think it does not have much of a purpose, because of what we have said so far about how a sloth is not a very active and outgoing animal. I looked into it, and I think the purpose of the sloths in nature lies in their hair.
There are many curiosities related to this mammal's hair, but the one that amazed me the most is that the hair is the home of two species of cyanobacterias. The sloths have a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria because they provide nutrients to the mammal when they are licked during grooming.
The hair also hosts algae, which returns the favor to the sloth by helping to give green color to its coat, significantly improving the sloth's camouflage. So, because of the camouflage provided by algae and bacteria, the sloth can blend in with the trees and, added to the slow movement, does not attract the attention of predators (or curious humans).
Now, if we follow nature's chain, I guess you would not be surprised if I told you that because of the algae, the sloth's hair becomes a small ecosystem of its own, hosting many species of non parasitic insects. Then, after informing myself a little about this animal, I have come to the conclusion that the only answer to your question is that the purpose of the sloths in nature is to host all this little living beings that otherwise would be homeless. A lot of responsibility ... don't you agree?
Sloths are very hard to see. I remember very clearly the first time I saw one. We were driving back from the southern Pacific coast to the capital when our driver and nature guide spotted a three-toed sloth hanging from the branches of a Cecropia Tree, the sloth's favorite tree.
I was so happy. Before, I had only seen some furry-looking balls very high up on a tree, supposedly sloths, but impossible to confirm. But this one was a perfect opportunity for a picture. So I grabbed my camera and ran outside the bus.
It was perfect: the sloth was moving along a branch to wards the tree's trunk. It eventually sat on a branch, hugged the trunk and was ready to fall asleep but before doing this, it raises its faces towards the horizon and it looked almost like it was saying a prayer.
I'm sure the sloth slept well after I left, and I was proud of my picture.
Ecotourism and Nature 
