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.
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