Executive Director — Conversacion, Naturaleza y Vida (CONAVI)
Research: Shielding from extinction the world's most endangered Xenarthran: The pigmy sloth of Escudo de Veraguas Island, Panama
Species/Topic: Pigmy sloth
Abstract: With only a small population confined to 533-hectare Escudo de Veraguas island off the coast of Panama, the pigmy three-toed (Bradypus pigmaeus) sloth is the most endangered of all Xenartha. Listed as critically endangered in IUCN’s Red List, it’s confined to the 350 hectares of red mangrove forest that surround the island. Discovered in 2001, it’s a dwarf compared with its mainland relatives, a likely product of insular dwarfism and one of the few remaining examples of this adaptation mechanism in the world.Â Its number remains unknown although it is estimated to be around one hundred due to its extremely restricted range. Although the island is uninhabited, 150 fishermen and their families are temporarily living in the island, cutting mangrove trees — the sloth’s habitat and source of food — to make charcoal and sometimes eating the sloths when daily subsistence fishing is unsuccessful. The mangrove forest has been reduced by 25% already and is quickly dwindling, seriously threatening Bradypus pigaeus’ habitat and that of other endemics — the Escudo fruit bat, the Escudo Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Escudo Manakin, Escude Bay Wren, Escudo Blue-gray Tanager, and the Maritime worm salamander. These species have evolved in isolation for 9,000 years. Escudo de Veraguas is a wildlife refuge and is contained within the Gnobe Bugle Indigenous Reserve. However, law enforcement is currently inadequate and needs to be improved. This project seeks to undertake urgent research and protection actions to save Bradypus pigmaeus from certain extinction by a) conducting a census of pigmy sloths to know their actual number; b) helping the authorities enforce legal regulations to stop the killing of sloths and the cutting of red mangroves; c) carrying out a behavioral ecology study; d) disseminating information on the pigmy sloth and its condition in order to increase local awareness and public support; and e) offering alternative cooking technology to fishermen to reduce deforestation.