The Learning Center

Changing the plight of sloths, one person at a time.

Rescuing an animal saves a life, educating our young people can save our future.

Rescuing orphaned and injured sloths is a very important part of our mission, but it’s not the only thing we do. The best way to ensure that sloths will continue to inhabit Costa Rica’s rainforests is to educate the people who visit and live in this beautiful country. One of the most effective ways to do this is to reach out to children. At Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, we strive to share our message of compassion with children from pre-school through high school. Tailored to their age, our message teaches responsibility to oneself, the animals and our planet.

To this end, we designed and built the Learning Center with an auditorium seating 50, a wide-screen television for viewing our educational videos, and a small museum. Additionally, we have a special area where children and adults alike can get up-close to five of our very special adult resident sloths. Millie, Toyota, Spiderman Einstein, Nala and TopoGigio make the information learned very real by providing visitors with the opportunity to see an adult sloth “up close and personal.” Many local children - and adults! - arrive to the Sanctuary with a preconceived idea that sloths are dirty, dangerous and not very lovable and are reluctant to even get close to observe them. Once these children - and adults! - have looked into a sloth’s face, they will never again think of them in the same way.  And they are even more reluctant to leave the Sanctuary, as the experience of learning compassion for these charismatic animals changes their perception of the world around them.