Our thirst for pineapple may be causing mutations in Costa Rica's sloths

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Our thirst for pineapple may be causing mutations in Costa Rica’s sloths
Genetic abnormalities in sloths are on the rise in parts of Costa Rica. The pineapple industry may be to blame

By LEVI STALLINGS
PUBLISHED MARCH 2, 2024 9:00AM (EST)


(Salon) For more than a decade, animal rescue centers in Central America have reported receiving a strangely high number of baby sloths with genetic mutations. Dr. Rebecca Cliffe was working on her Ph.D. near San Clemente at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica when she first began noticing sloths with misshapen limbs, missing appendages and albinism.

“They were often missing fingers and toes, sometimes the entire lower arm would be missing, sometimes the entire limb. The ears and the jaws were very prone to being deformed,” Cliffe said in an interview with Salon. Besides sloths with genetic mutations that have been taken into rescue centers, many others have been spotted in the wild. “Here in the South Caribbean, we regularly see sloths with missing arms, missing fingers and toes, still living in the wild, some of them as adults thriving,” Cliffe said.

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Sloths are a national symbol of Costa Rica, a country home to an estimated 5 percent of all species in the world. Costa Rica has a higher density or biomass of sloths than any other mammal.

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Although Dr. Cliffe has not been able to prove what might be causing mutations in sloths, she suspects they are the result of unregulated farming practices. Encar García is founder of the nearby Jaguar Rescue Center in Limón, and has seen the ecological impact of farming firsthand. “In this province, there is less capacity to control what is happening,” García explained, listing “deforestation, illegal hunting and pesticides” among violations. García added that she thinks Costa Rica depends on people from the Caribbean to protect nature. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/03/02/our-thirst-for-pineapple-may-be-causing-mutations-in-costa-ricas-sloths/