New sloth book features amazing photographs and busts myths [PHOTOS]

Photographer Suzi Eszterhas was working on a story in Costa Rica when she met sloth researcher Dr. Rebecca Cliffe for the first time. The pair spent weeks in the field together, as she says below, following a mother three-toed sloth and her tiny baby. Some days the pair spent hours lying on the forest floor, just staring up at the mother sloth, “hundreds of feet up in a tree. But other days she came down low to feed, and even crawled across the forest floor in front of us…presenting the most incredible photo opportunities.” Incredible images were indeed the result. Another outcome was that during all that time spent sloth-watching, the photographer and sloth expert decided to publish a book meant to raise awareness and support for the species’ conservation. The result is a fantastic new book, “Sloths: Life in the slow lane,” and the pair discussed it with Mongabay recently. Brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) newborn (less than 1 week old) clinging to mother, Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary, Costa Rica. Twig in background digitally removed. Photo by Suzi Eszterhas.   INTERVIEW WITH REBECCA CLIFFE AND SUZI ESZTERHAS   Erik Hoffner for Mongabay: Why do we all seem to love sloths? Rebecca Cliffe: Sloths are evolutionary oddballs. We are often led to believe that the most successful animals are those which are the fiercest, fastest or the most intelligent, yet [sloths] have managed to hang around for over 64 million years, making them one of the most ancient species of mammals,…

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