The pygmy three-toed sloth is located solely on Isla Escudo de Veraguas, a small island of about 4.3km² that is part of Bocas del Toro, a distance of roughly 17.6 km from mainland Panama. Currently, the only population left takes up less than 3% of the island for their living conditions, as the largest collection of known sloths was 79 out of a total less than 100 living Bradypus pygmaeus’s, last calculated in 2012 (due to the very fragile numbers of the species) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which is unfortunately much smaller than the calculated number in 2010, only two years before. Taking into consideration that there is no relative estimate on the total island population due to the fact they are only found in the mangroves of the island and the sloth’s small numbers, a population density of 5.8 sloths/hectare can be estimated based on data collected from the mangroves. Relating back to fact that their population takes up less than 3% of this small island, they rarely migrate or disperse from the area in which they were born, their habitat seems to provide for their needs including food, water and shelter. It’s also been recently tracked that a few have moved inland towards the thick rain forests of the island, but the census of these creatures would be incredibly hard to carry out due to the difficulty around the area and the lack of local co-operation.
Pygmy sloths have only been recently discovered and currently there are several unknown factors about their life cycle, including the current age they have been able to live. Regular sloths that have been placed within captivity were observed to have a lifespan of around 30 to 40 years, so it can be inferred that the lifespan of the pygmy three toed sloth is similar for now. There are no definitive age structures available for Bradypus pygmaeus, however they are capable of only producing one baby at a time, so it is likely the number of older sloths would currently outweigh their young.
Due to their critical status in the environment, Bradypus pygmaeus will only retain a safe population after several years of protection on their lifestyle and will likely not have to worry about competition with others of their species. If they were however to increase rapidly for a reason due to the fact the majority of them are present in the mangroves at a based density of 1.8 sloths every 10,000 square metres the island could likely safely hold about 2600 sloths at least, if the density of the mangroves was applied to the entire island.
Due to their critical status in the environment, Bradypus pygmaeus will only retain a safe population after several years of protection on their lifestyle and will likely not have to worry about competition with others of their species. If they were however to increase rapidly for a reason due to the fact the majority of them are present in the mangroves at a based density of 1.8 sloths every 10,000 square metres the island could likely safely hold about 2600 sloths at least, if the density of the mangroves was applied to the entire island.