Tilly the Sloth is Cape May Zoo’s New Learning Ambassador

Cape May Park & Zoo celebrated International Sloth Day (Sloth Day? Who knew?) this week by welcoming Matilda the Sloth to the zoo family.

Matilda, or Tilly, is a 6-month-old two-toed sloth. If you were wondering, the two-toed sloth is slightly bigger and spends more time hanging upside down than its three-toed cousins, according to National Geographic.

Tilly will have to juggle her hanging time with Cape May Zoo's plan to use her as a new animal ambassador for the zoo's education department. Visitors who sign up on the zoo's website will be able to meet Tilly during personalized encounters and special programs, the zoo said on Facebook Thursday.

Cape May Zoo says the two-toed sloth is an integral part of the rainforest ecosystem, so there is much we can learn from them.

To celebrate Tilly's arrival in South Jersey, here are a few two-toed sloth fast-fasts, courtesy of National Geographic.

- The two-toed sloth is as slow and lethargic as you have always heard. On average, sloths travel 41 yards per day—less than half the length of a football field.

- Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day. In fact, they're so incredibly sluggish, algae actually grows on their fur. Sounds like me on the weekend. Except for the algae part, that is.

- They may be sleepy and slow, but don't mess with a sloth. National Geographic says that if caught by a predator, 'sloths turn from sluggish to slugger, biting fiercely, hissing, slashing with their claws, and shrieking.'