Two-toed Sloths (Choloepus spp.) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

• Limited to Central and South America. The 2 species are partially sympatric (overlap) in the Andean regions and western Amazonia. Both overlap with the 3-toed sloth.
• Choloepus didactylus (Columbia - east of Andes, Venezuela, Guianas, Ecuador, Peru and N. Brazil)
  • Ranges from sea level up to 2,438 m (7,999 ft) (Britton 1941).
  • Native to: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela.
• Choloepus hoffmanni — 2 disjunct populations
  • Range from sea level to 3,300 m (10,827 ft) in Panama; up to 1,150 m (3773 ft) in the southern Andes of Venezuela.
    • Northernmost population ranges from Nicaragua south into western Venezuela
    • Southern population is found from north-central Peru, through extreme southwestern Brazil (southwestern Amazon and probably Acre) to central Bolivia.
    • There is a doubtful record for this species from the Aripuana, Mato Grosso State, Brazil (F. Avilla-Pires, pers. commun). The range of the species within Brazil is unclear and further surveys are needed.
      Native to: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela

• Limited to humid, warm, well-established tropical and cloud forests
• Trees with interlacing crowns allow for lateral movement without descending to ground (descend approximately weekly to defecate)
• Prefer crowns of trees with lianas to provide cover from predators and shelter from sun during the day.
• Trees also provide body support for sleeping — no nest building
• Other factors that determine habitat selection
  • Physiological state of animal and plants
  • Recent history of movement and feeding
  • Social inheritance of mother's home range and tree preference
  • Plant species diversity where the animal lives
  • Seasonal changes in plant composition & availability

Two-toed sloths live in Central and northern South America.

Click below for each species' detailed distribution (from IUCN):

Red box: Linné's two-toed sloth, Choloepus didactylus
Black box: Hoffman's two-toed sloth, Choloepus hoffmanni

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to each species' IUCN fact sheet: Choloepus didactylus and C. hoffmanni.

Emmons (1990)
Gilmore (2008)
Merritt (2006)
Montgomery and Sunquist (1973)