On today’s episode, we talk with zoologist Rebecca Cliffe about why the popular perception of sloths as lazy creatures is completely unwarranted — and why debunking myths like this about the animals is especially important right now.

Dr. Rebecca Cliffe is a British zoologist, a sloth expert, and the founder and executive director of the Sloth Conservation Foundation in Costa Rica. She teamed up with Suzi Eszterhas, an award-winning wildlife photographer, for the 2017 book Sloths: Life in the Slow Lane. In an interview with Mongabay last year, Eszterhas explained that the book idea came about while she was in Costa Rica for a story and spent weeks in the field with Cliffe following a mother three-toed sloth and her tiny baby.

The idea was to publish the book to raise awareness and support for sloth conservation. Because, as Cliffe pointed out in that interview, the increasing global popularity sloths have enjoyed in recent years has not translated into an increase in protection. That’s why Cliffe sought to debunk some persistent myths about sloths in the book — myths that she says still need debunking today.

Cliffe tells us all about how moving slow is actually a survival strategy that has been so successful that sloths are some of the oldest mammals on our planet, the current “sloth crisis” driven by forest fragmentation and people taking “sloth selfies,” and what you can do to help protect sloths.

Here’s this episode’s top news:

• Indonesia wins $2.52 million settlement for coral damage by foreign ships
• Widespread tool-using chimp culture discovered in Democratic Republic of Congo
• West Bengal’s rhino population hits a record high

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