Great news, sloth fans: Lightning the sloth is pregnant!
Just in time for International Sloth Day on Thursday, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden announced that the two-toed sloth is pregnant again and due in early summer.
10-year-old mom Lightning and 23-year-old dad Moe spent "some alone time behind the scenes," according to the zoo. Scientists from the zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife have been performing ultrasounds on Lightning regularly, and confirmed the presence of a fetus and a fetal heartbeat during an exam in early September.
More:Cincinnati Zoo renames habitat in honor of sloth-loving Oliver Nicholson
2021 was a difficult year for Lightning. She gave birth to a stillborn pup in October of last year, which came as a surprise after zoo officials said it had been a normal pregnancy. The zoo also renamed the sloth's habitat "The Oliver Nicholson Memorial Sloth Habitat," in honor of a sloth-loving child who died of a rare condition in 2021.
The zoo waited several months to put Lightning and Moe together after Lightning's stillbirth, but the pair showed immediate interest in each other, Julie Grove, the Cincinnati Zoo’s zoological manager, said in a release.
“Lightning is in good health, and we remain optimistic that she will deliver a healthy baby,” Grove said. “To make sure she gets plenty of rest and TLC, we are going to keep her behind the scenes until she gives birth. If all goes well, visitors will get to see Lightning and baby in July."
Once the baby is born, it will latch on to Lightning and stay attached for the next 10-12 weeks.
Moe will remain in the Discovery Forest and can be seen during regular zoo hours.
Lightning came to Cincinnati in 2019 on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan and was introduced to Moe in December of that year. Moe was orphaned in the wild as a young sloth and has been in Cincinnati since 2006.
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