chevron-left Visit nationalgeographic.org

The Slothiest Day of the Year

Andrew Howley

National Geographic Emerging Explorer Lucy Cooke has dedicated her life to celebrating the strange, funny looking, gross, creepy, or otherwise unseemly animals that most people forget, ignore, or outright avoid.

Her undying efforts on slothville.com though have made a certain amount of progress helping to turn the slow-moving, death-claw-bearing, moss-covered sloth into an internet darling (just ask Kristen Bell).

Today, you can join Lucy in her passion and celebrate International Sloth Day. Declared by AIUNA, a conservation organization aimed at protecting sloths and their relatives, it’s a day full of… well, pretty much whatever you decide to fill it with.

For starters, you can watch the video above, which Lucy filmed at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica. Then, whether you slothfully skip bathing, lay around all day, or get un-slothfully active and throw a party or maybe tweet us a sloth haiku, do it boldly, and spread the word.

In full disclosure, I myself find sloths to be the creepiest living things on Earth.

But that won’t stop me celebrating. Happy International Sloth Day one and all!

[Video updated 10/25/12.]

 

Wildlife

,

Andrew Howley is a longtime contributor to the National Geographic blog, with a particular focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology generally, and ancient rock art in particular. In 2018 he became Communications Director at Adventure Scientists, founded by Nat Geo Explorer Gregg Treinish. Over 11 years at the National Geographic Society, Andrew worked in various ways to share the stories of NG explorers and grantees online. He also produced the Home Page of nationalgeographic.com for several years, and helped manage the Society's Facebook page during its breakout year of 2010. He studied Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. He has covered expeditions with NG Explorers-in-Residence Mike Fay, Enric Sala, and Lee Berger. His personal interests include painting, running, and reading about history. You can follow him on Twitter @anderhowl and on Instagram @andrewjhowley.