WHAT do gender reveals and sloths have in common? They have both come to Jersey from the other side of Atlantic, and now the Island has witnessed its first-known instance of a “pink or blue” announcement for one of the small, furry mammals.
Islanders who have been consumed with curiosity since the news that a baby Linne’s two-toed sloth had been born in January at Jersey Zoo need agonise no longer. It is… a female!
Zoo officials performed the reveal via social media, including a side-reveal about the name of the six-month-old sloth – she is to be called Jemma.
Details of how the gender determination process was carried out have also been shared, in case anyone thought the Zoo had been dragging it claws. It’s no easy task, followers were told, and involved DNA testing in partnership with a specialist lab in Germany, where one of Jemma’s hair follicles was analysed.
The youngster remains close to her mother Terry, who gave birth on 15 January, but sadly Jemma’s 23-year-old father Rio suffered declining health during 2024 and eventually died on 23 January, barely week after his partner had given birth.
The birth was hailed as an important milestone by Jersey Zoo, which was one of the centres to have taken part in a pan-European breeding programme for the species, which is native to a number of countries in South America including Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil.
