Beloved sloth passes away at Salisbury Zoo

SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury Zoo family, and the community is mourning the loss of Bayou the beloved sloth.

Bayou passed away Tuesday morning, after a two-month long battle with end-stage renal disease. She was the zoo’s only sloth.

Her journey started down in Louisiana where she was born, and she eventually moved to the Salisbury Zoo, calling it her home for four years.

Zoo collections curator, Luke Krider said she was able to live out the rest of her life under the compassionate care of zoo staff.

“Bayou was able to participate in her health care through voluntary blood pressure cuffs, voluntary blood draws, voluntary administration of fluids, so all that stuff in the past might have to be done under restraint. She was able to do it just with some positive reinforcement,” said Krider.

He added the zoo is looking at bringing in another sloth to carry on Bayou’s legacy.

“We are looking at the possibility of bringing another sloth. In the meantime, we’re also going to be undergoing a renovation of that habitat, so we’re going to bring it up to a greater standard for sloths in the future,” said Krider.

Zoo staff said they observed several symptoms that indicated Bayou’s health was declining, and when she was formally diagnosed, they worked to make that last two months of her life as comfortable as possible as she lived out her days in her enclosure.

Krider said their work was spotlighted by a nationally recognized organization.

“We were actually published in what’s called the Animal Keepers Forum. It’s part of the American-10 association of zookeepers; one of our zookeepers actually submitted her article and her photos, her work that she did with Bayou the sloth, and she was published,” Krider said.

You can read that publication here.