BrainStuff Classics: Why Are Sloths' Toilet Habits So Dangerous?

Sloths only defecate once a week or so, and more sloths die during the process than at any other time. Learn why in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/sloths-only-poop-once-week.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff.
I'm Lauren Vogelbomb, and today's episode is a classic from
the Vault. In this one, we get into the yes,
gross but fascinating world of sloths toilet habits, and why
pooping is one of the most dangerous things these animals do.

(00:24):
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbomb. Here. Sloths are known for
their incredibly slow moving natures, but it turns out that
such sluggishness also carries over into their bathroom habits, so
much so that they only defecate every five to seven
days on average, and actually lose up to one third
of their body weight in a single movement. The stool
is pushed out in one fell swoop, so impressive that

(00:46):
horrified and or transfixed bystanders can watch the animal's aptomen shrink.
We spoke via email with Sarah Kennedy, co founder of
the Sloth Conservation Foundation based in the United Kingdom. She said,
if you've ever seen a sloth pooh, you could only
ever describe it as pure bliss. They tip their heads
back and smile, but the weak, long delay between bowel

(01:09):
movements is not even the strangest thing about sloth pooping habits.
You see, sloths are arboreal creatures, which means they live, work,
and play high up in the trees. Their chosen habitats
are the rain and cloud forests of Central and South America.
Most other arboreal animals, like monkeys, poop from the trees,
but not sloths. Instead, they make a slow descent from

(01:31):
the canopy to do their business at the base of
the trees. And this despite the fact that it's quite perilous.
Kennedy said, this behavior puts them threat to a lot
of predators like jungle cats, and wastes a lot of
their precious energy, which they don't have much of. It
turns out that more than half of all sloth deaths
occur during potty time, when these creatures are so vulnerable

(01:53):
to predators. The process comes at a serious price. Zoologist
and Sloth Conservation Foundation and founder Becky Cliff wrote in
a blog post a sloth's entire lifestyle is based around
avoiding detection and using as little energy as possible. It
takes a sloth an entire month to digest just one leaf,
meaning they don't have much wiggle room when it comes

(02:14):
to expending energy. The laborious process of going up and
down the tree is compounded by the actual pooping process.
Sloths do a little dance at the base of the
tree to create a hole for the feces, and then
shake their hind quarters once more to cover it up.
This process requires you guessed it, plenty of precious energy.

(02:35):
A lot of theories have been put forth about why
sloths feel the need to expend so much effort and
expose themselves to so much danger just to toilet. One
theory is that sloth moths, which live in sloth hair,
actually lay their eggs in the feces during the long
poop process. Then, once they hatch and mature in their
carefully prepared environment, they fly up to take residence in

(02:57):
the host sloth's fur. A Many experts are skeptical of
this explanation because the sloths don't particularly benefit from the
behavior and nature isn't generally known for its selfless generosity.
More likely, but as yet unproven, is that the strange
behavior comes back to reproduction, as it so often does
when living things are involved. Kennedy explained the main reason

(03:20):
is probably so that other sloths can find them, particularly
males looking for females. Usually this loss come down every
five to seven days, but when females are in heat
it's every day, so it's likely to be mostly to
do with reproduction. Indeed, it appears at sloth poop says
a lot more about the animal than merely what they've
been gnaching on. Cliff wrote, pheromones present in the urinine

(03:43):
feces can provide a lot of important information about the
individual animal. If the sloths just let everything go from
the canopy, these messages would be easily lost. We have
heaps of data showing some really interesting patterns between a
female's estracycle and the patterns of defecation. We'll be waiting
patiently for the answer to this mystery, because if observing

(04:04):
slots teaches anything it's patience. Today's episode is based on
the article Sloth's only poop once a week, but they
make it a good one on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written
by Leah Hoyt. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in
partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

(04:26):
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