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

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2024, 09:05 AM - Edit history (1)

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)



This albino sloth was named Goldie by the Sloth Conservation Foundation (Dr. Rebecca Cliffe/The Sloth Conservation Foundation)

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.

Although some missing appendages are lost to predators or other injuries, genetic mutations are apparent from birth. In the time since her first observations in 2010, Dr. Cliffe hasn’t been the only researcher in the area to notice this phenomenon. Andrés Bräutigam is one of the veterinarians for the Toucan Rescue Ranch, another animal sanctuary in Costa Rica.

“Most of the alterations I have seen are more related to internal organs. I've seen specifically congenital conditions associated with problems and development of lungs, problems and developments of hearts,” Bräutigam said, also mentioning problems associated with cognition and temperature regulation. “Mutations like the ones I have personally seen are often underdiagnosed because they require heavy medical exploration.”

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