Berry the two-toed sloth seen hanging around the Oregon Zoo's rainforest habitat

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – There’s a new animal hanging around the Oregon Zoo.

Berry the two-toed sloth joined the zoo’s rainforest habitat last week. Habitat overseer Marcus Jason said she may be slow, but she was quick to settle into her new home.

“Berry made herself right at home in the branches of a tree,” Marcus Jason with the Oregon Zoo said. “Sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in trees, so it’s a perfect place for her.”  

According to the Oregon Zoo, Berry is a Linne two-toed sloth. And though they are considered “a species of least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, staff members said their numbers are in decline due to deforestation and illegal wildlife trading.

Berry, however, was born at a zoo in New Jersey in 2017. Her move to Oregon comes after a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan in an effort to “promote genetically diverse, self-sustaining populations of at-risk species.”

Visitors are encouraged to find Berry in the rainforest area across from the slender-snouted crocodile habitat, but staff members said finding her may be an exercise in patience. They recommend standing in one spot and watching for any slow movement.

“Sloths can nap up to 20 hours a day, and when they do move, it’s pretty slowly,” Jason said. “Berry likes to be up high in the trees, so be sure to look up when you visit.”