Stricter global rules adopted to protect sloths from pet and selfie trade

At the recent CITES CoP20 meeting, two-toed sloths (Hoffmann’s and Linnaeus’s) were added to Appendix II, meaning international trade will now require permits and stricter regulation. This change aims to curb illegal capture for pets, roadside “sloth encounters,” selfies and unregulated tourism, helping safeguard wild populations and reduce stress and mortality from exploitation.