Sloth youngster 'Sid' has finally gone on show at Bristol zoo after a rocky 10 months of intensive hand rearing.
The sloth - named Sid after the character in the Ice Age movie - was born in the nocturnal house at Twilight World, Bristol Zoo Gardens, last April weighing just 1.1lbs.
Her mother was taken ill shortly after giving birth, and was laid up in the zoo's veterinary hospital, which prevented her from caring for Sid.
Despite making a full recovery, Sid's mum, named 'Light Cap', was no longer producing enough milk to feed her baby and Sid had to be cared for around the clock by a team of dedicated keepers.
Now, after almost a year, Sid has re-joined her mother on show in the zoo's nocturnal house.
Sid the baby sloth
Assistant curator of mammals Lynsey Bugg said: "We're thrilled that Sid is now on show so the public can meet her.
"She is a very active young sloth and can be seen exploring her enclosure. She has settled in and has been getting along well with her mum. Sid will sometimes cuddle up next to her to go to sleep."
In the first few months of her life, Sid needed feeding a combination of puppy milk formula and goat's milk every three hours, including through the night.
She was also checked over by the zoo vet on an almost daily basis to make sure she was developing well.
"Because she was hand-reared Sid still likes having the attention of the keepers," Bugg added.
"However, it is important that she learns how to be a sloth, so we have been weaning her off human contact and now have a completely hands-off policy with her.
"Hand-rearing animals and then reintroducing them to their families can be tricky, so this has been a great success story."
The sloth is a species known as Linne's two-toed sloth, also known as the southern two-toed sloth, which are native to South America.
Sloths are so slow that although their hair is light brown, in the wild algae grows on their coats making them look green.
Check out the green tinge of algae on this sloth, who hitched a ride on a local bus after falling out a tree in Costa Rica
They sleep for up to 18 hours a day in the wild, curled up in a ball so their natural predator, the jaguar, will not spot them.
Bristol Zoo is part of a European zoo coordinated breeding programme for the species. The ultimate aim is for Sid to have a mate of her own and produce young.
Sloths have hit the headlines in recent months, after the “Too Cute! Baby Sloths” documentary was shown on Animal Planet. Made by Lucy Cooke, the programme follows the sloths at Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica.
At this friendly orphanage, any sloth in need of a helping toe or three is taken in, but mainly it is baby sloths whose mothers have been killed.
Adverts for the show went viral, showing the adorable slowcoaches climbing up table legs, snuggled up in cradles and crawling across the grass. And with sloths so popular, it was only a matter of time before Buzzfeed came up with an ingenious way of working out your "sloth name".
First written up on Huffington Post by Cinnamon the Algae-Covered Goliath (Christine Friar), work out your Sloth name below:
Via Buzzfeed