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Indianapolis Zoo Uses Koolfog Misting Poles to Create Habitat for Sloths

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Sloths are thriving at MISTery Park, a wildlife habitat located within the Indianapolis Zoo. Sloths are native to Central and South America and are used to the humid climate found in tropical forests. MISTery Park has been created using Koolfog misting poles and landscape fog effects to mimic the sloths’ natural environment, rich in green trees, plants, flowers, and foggy moss banks. Curious zoo guests can explore this MISTical land while they encounter some of the earth’s slowest moving mammals up close and personal.

Surprising Truths About Two-Toed Sloths

  1. Sloths are slow because they have a very low metabolic rate.
  2. Their movement is sooooo slow that algae and fungi have time to grow on their thick fur.
  3. Scientists have found that the sloths’ internal organs are fastened in place so that they can easily breathe upside down.
  4. Two-toed sloths are nocturnal.
  5. Their closest relatives come from the family of anteaters and armadillos.
  6. Sloths can extend their tongues 10 to 12 inches out of their mouths making it a great tool for snacking!
  7. Sloths eat leaves, berries, buds, and fruit, while some two-toed sloths also eat insects, small reptiles, and birds.
  8. It can take up to a month for sloths to digest their food.
  9. Sloths are good swimmers and can slow their heart rate so that they can hold their breath underwater for up to 40 minutes.
  10. While sloths don’t, literally, have eyes on the back of their head, they do have extra vertebrae at the base of the neck allowing them to turn their heads 270 degrees.

 

Koolfog Misting Poles Cool The Two-Toed Sloth
MISTery Park is home to almost a dozen Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths and Linnaeus’s two-toed sloths, some of which have been rescued from Panama after being rehabilitated at a wildlife sanctuary. Sloths are climbers that enjoy tall trees found in rain, cloud, and mangrove forests. The humidity in these regions is such that sloths have adapted physically to accommodate moisture and precipitation. Their belly hair curves for rainwater runoff when the animal is hanging upside down. Creating an environment that is most like their indigenous atmosphere allows caretakers to assist sloths in acclimating to their new home. Using Koolfog misting poles and landscape fog effects, habitat designers sought to preserve the sloth’s natural surroundings by providing a dense layer of haze and moisture to the area.

 

Slow, Sluggish, Sensational…Chillin’ With Two-Toed Sloths
While often referred to as “lazy creatures”, the sloth owes its laidback lifestyle to low metabolism. These “sluggish tree-dwellers” live most of their lives hanging upside down, including eating, sleeping, mating, and giving birth to their offspring.  Now, visitors to Indianapolis Zoo’s MISTery Park can immerse themselves in the wonders tropical forest environment and hang out with the charmingly calm creatures that inhabit this special space. Koolfog misting poles and landscape fog effects offer humidity and authenticity to this exhibit so that guests can chill in a unique animal enrichment experience. Koolfog constantly innovates to enhance our misting solutions, to cool people, animals, and plants as they encounter different species and explore the science of our planet.

 

Michelle Roe
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