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MAY'S SLOTH-OF-THE-MONTH: MEET GROGU
You might recognize the name. A small, wide-eyed creature with an extraordinary will to survive, yes, we’re talking about our Grogu. And with the new film of The Mandalorian & Grogu hitting theaters this week (Yes, TSI is a bunch of Star Wars-loving nerds.), there’s never been a better time to meet the real-life little one who shares that iconic name.
This May, we’re proud to introduce Grogu as our Sloth of the Month for our Symbolic Adoption program. Her story is one of resilience, round-the-clock care, and the most rewarding kind of ending: a wild life, hard-won and well-deserved.
In a Rainforest Far, Far Away…
Grogu arrived at The Sloth Institute in January 2021 under heartbreaking circumstances. She was just a few days old, a tiny 275 grams, and was found clinging to her mother’s lifeless body. We believe electrocution was likely the cause of her mother’s death, a tragic reminder of how human infrastructure can be deadly for wildlife in the jungle canopy.
At that age and size, Grogu had almost no chance of survival on her own. So we gave her one.
The Mandalorian Had His Grogu. We Had Ours.
By the time Grogu was ready for release, she weighed 2.5 kilograms, ten times her arrival weight. That milestone is everything in sloth rehabilitation: it means a young sloth has the strength, instincts, and digestive capability to survive independently in the wild.
We tracked her post-release for over a year, monitoring her movements and ensuring she was adapting well to jungle life. Eventually, we removed her tracking collar and said our final goodbye. She didn’t need us anymore, and that’s exactly the point.
This is the Way... She's Probably a Mom Now!
We have every reason to believe Grogu is out there thriving. Three-toed sloths have a gestation period of 6–7 months, and females wean their young at around 5–6 months, when babies reach approximately 1 kg. Given how much time has passed, our Grogu is very likely a mother herself now, passing on the wild life she almost never got to live.
It’s the best kind of story we get to tell.
Symbolic adoption is one of the most meaningful ways to support our rescue and release work. When you adopt Grogu, you’re not just celebrating her story; you’re helping fund the care of the next orphaned sloth who arrives at our doorstep at 275 grams with everything to prove.
May the Force, and the jungle canopy, be with her always!
Grogu is a Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus), one of the most iconic species in Costa Rica’s rainforests. A few fun facts about her species:
- Cathemeral: Active both day and night (not purely nocturnal as many people assume!)
- 8–10 cervical vertebrae: More than almost any other mammal, allowing them to rotate their heads up to 270°
- Average adult size: 4–4.5 kg
