The oldest sloth in the world has died, according to LiveScience . Miss C, a Hoffmannâs two-toed sloth that lived at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia, was 43 years old.
She was put to sleep after her keepers noticed her acting unwell on June 2. She had several age-related health issues, as might be expected from an animal thought to be the oldest of her kind. âThe treatment Miss C required was very invasive and would likely only delay the inevitable so the hard decision was made to humanely euthanize her,â one of the zooâs curators, Phil Ainsley, said in a statement . She had lived at the Adelaide Zoo since birth.
The average lifespan of a Hoffmannâs two-toed sloth in the wild is 12 years, and in captivity, 31 years. Miss Câs male counterpart at the zoo, Al G, died in 2015 at the age of 26. At the time of her death, she was the only remaining sloth in Australia.
Hoffmannâs two-toed sloths are native to the tropical environments of Central and South America. In the wild, two-toed sloths like Miss C largely live in tree canopies, only making their way down to the ground periodically to poop .
It has been a tough year for record-holding zoo animals. Elly, the oldest black rhino in the world at 46, died at the San Francisco Zoo in May .
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