Buena persona consigue sacar del apuro a esta linda Madre en apuros, y 🔊......................☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️ pic.twitter.com/3x2T3Msty1
— Eduardo (@Eduardo38Garcia) October 24, 2023
Sloth babies fall out of trees more than we like to think, and they are usually okay. The mother will come to get the infant, but it will take a while. In this video, an unnamed photographer speaking Portuguese hands the baby back to the sloth mother, saving her the last few steps -and probably quite a bit of time.
The video with the original audio is at Instagram. You notice how the mother reaches her arm out to the photographer, which has been interpreted as a sign of gratitude. However, as the video went viral, some folks with sloth experience tell us that the gesture is really a warning. One even said, "This is exactly what they do when they want to bite you." The photographer was never in any real danger, because anyone can outrun a sloth. But the story should serve as a cautionary tale against ascribing human motives to the actions of wildlife. -via Nag on the Lake