A female southern two-toed sloth named Athena has died of early-onset kidney disease at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. She was 7.
The normal lifespan of Athena’s species is about 13 years for females and 22 years for males, the zoo posted Monday on social media.
Athena’s kidney disease made it tough for her to maintain weight, and in recent months she lost more and more weight and spent more and more time sleeping, the zoo said.
On Nov. 13, zookeepers brought Athena to the zoo’s veterinary hospital, and workers there gave her intravenous fluids and medication to help with nausea. Athena died at the hospital overnight.
Athena arrived at the zoo in December 2019, having come from the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, Texas, about 121 miles northeast of Houston.
Zookeepers remembered Athena as “spunky” and “rambunctious,” and zoo officials said on social media that “Athena showed visitors that sloths aren’t lazy or slow.”
Athena is survived by two male two-toed sloths named Vlad and Howie. Vlad lives in the zoo’s Small Mammal House, where Athena used to live, and Howie lives in the zoo’s Amazonia exhibit.
