A Curious Three-Toed Sloth and the Insects Living in Its Fur Investigate an Animatronic Spy Sloth

In a slightly creepy clip from the PBS version of the BBC Series “Spy in the Wild“, an animatronic spy sloth captured up close footage of a curious three-toed sloth that came to investigate. The footage revealed a tiny ecosystem of insects and fungi that live in a sloth’s fur that symbiotically keep the mammal clean and healthy, much in the same way as the relationship between warthogs and mongooses.

A robotic ‘spy sloth’ gets a close-up view of the mini-ecosystem contained in a sloth’s fur. Eeeww…gross!

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.