Sloth to leave Jersey in bid to boost the species

A sloth born in Jersey will be heading to a zoo in Hampshire to help boost its species, zoo staff say.

Linnaeus's two-toed sloth Jemma, who was born at Jersey Zoo in January 2025, will leave the island at the end of March after a European breeding co-ordinator said a perfect match had been found for her - a male sloth called Santos at Marwell Zoo.

Jersey Zoo said it had always hoped she would "go on to breed and help bolster the captive population of this species".

Her parents were the first sloths introduced at the zoo in November 2022 as part of a European breeding programme.

Her mother Terry died suddenly in October 2025.

A post-mortem examination had found a piece of food lodged in her airway, while her father Rio had died earlier in the year, aged 23.

The zoo said visitors would still be able to see Jemma before she left on 24 March.

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