Meet Jan, the world's oldest sloth ever!

Jan the sloth has lived for over TWICE as long as most of his sloth friends, after marking his... 54th birthday! 🤯

The male Linne’s 2-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), who lives at Krefeld Zoo in Germany, has lived so long he’s become the oldest living sloth AND the oldest sloth ever.

But don’t be tricked into thinking Jan has been lazing around and living life at a slow pace – he's a dad to 22 kids, so he's got responsibilities! 🤪

He was born in the wild in South America and was estimated to be just around 6 months old when he was found on 1 May 1970, meaning he’s now AT LEAST 54 years old.

He’s lived at the zoo since 30 April 1986 and, according to his keepers, he's still very healthy and happy! 

The zoo chose 30 April to be his birthday and celebrates with him every year... Jan is very loved! ❤️

According to WWF, 2-toed sloths usually live for about 20 years, meaning Jan has way more than doubled his life expectancy.

Sloths in protected environments such as the zoo generally live longer – usually between 30 and 40 years.

🔎 So what do we know about sloths?

• They are known for their very slooow movements - they just like to take their sweet time!
• They eat leaves, fruit, and tree sap. 🍃🥑
• However, they eat very little because it takes them REALLY long to digest their food - they sometimes go days or even weeks between each meal! 💩
• They spend most of their time simply hanging in trees. 🌳

Sloths do practically everything in trees – hanging on with their curved claws – from eating to sleeping and even giving birth!

Their life doesn't sound so easy after all, does it? 🤣

Despite this, sloths have a peculiar habit of leaving their trees and heading down to the ground when they need to go to the toilet... 🚽

Well, that's a relief - who would go to the zoo if there was poo falling from the trees?! 😅

We wish Jan and his family many happy years to come! 🙏

Header imager: Vera Gorissen / Zoo Krefeld