-"Menghayati!"

has been made possible by...

The Safina Center -- Making the case for life on Earth.

And Avalon Nature Preserve -- Connecting communities to nature since 2002.

The Peter H. Warny Conservation Fund -- Celebrating the life of Peter H. Warny through supporting this program and conservation projects worldwide.

Additional support comes from... Utalii Peer To Peer Tourism -- Providing personalized tour experiences to tourists worldwide.

The Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments and Centre ValBio -- Saving wildlife and habitats through research, community, and conservation.

EFG-Renascence Productions -- A unique, next-generation studio that broadens our mind by connecting us through films.

-Menghayati!

-Are you ready to follow your dreams, have fun, meet amazing animals, amazing people, and help our planet?

If that sounds like something you want to do, then we're right here in Cocles, Costa Rica.

Let's go!

♪ It's time to step outside ♪ It's time to follow your dreams ♪ ♪ It's time to step into nature ♪ ♪ And see things you never seen ♪ ♪ A quest to love our planet ♪ Like snakes, it's time to uncurl ♪ ♪ The bees and frogs are in danger ♪ ♪ Let's go around the world -♪ Let's go -In our previous episode, we were in Manzanillo, Costa Rica, to discover our secret creature and the guides that helped us find amazing wildlife and an organization that brought together community members and international volunteers to help bring our secret creature back from the brink of extinction.

In today's episode, we're in Cocles Beach, Costa Rica, to discover our secret creature... ♪♪ ...amazing wildlife, and a scientist who's studying how this creature lives in the community of Cocles, Costa Rica, by radio-tracking them out in the wild.

So, if you're ready to meet them, then let's go!

♪♪ -"Menghayati!"

♪♪ -Welcome to "Menghayati!"

where you get to discover creatures and cultures from around the world.

And remember, the word "menghayati" means to have a deep, loving connection to all living things.

Today, we're right here in Cocles Beach, Costa Rica, to discover a really cool creature, and I'm so grateful to be able to share this with you and to introduce you to a scientist named Dr. Becky that actually studies that creature right here on this beach.

And this creature lives in the trees!

And these creatures are really, really awesome.

However, before we get a chance to meet it, we're gonna learn a bit more about Cocles, Costa Rica, and how you get here.

So, if you're ready, let's go!

♪♪ Cocles is a community located in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica and is home to a community of wild animals... ♪♪ ...and wonderful humans who have lived there for many years.

-If you want to be a part of... [ Indistinct conversations ] -The word "playa" means beach, and the word "Cocles" means Kekoldi, which is located just behind Playa Cocles in the hills of Talamanca.

-Kekoldi!

-Kekoldi!

♪♪ -Playa Cocles is located in the province of Limón in the canton of Talamanca.

Most of the community here in Cocles has roots of origin from Jamaica and the surrounding islands.

♪♪ If you ever visit there, you can meet amazing wildlife... ♪♪ ...go for a hike... ♪♪ ...play volleyball on the beach, learn to surf, and learn one of the most famous phrases in Costa Rica.

-Pura vida.

-Pura vida.

-Pura vida!

Yeehaw.

-Off the coast for the Pura vida.

-Pura vida!

And now it's almost time to meet our secret creature.

-"Menghayati!"

♪♪ [ Birds cawing ] [ Birds cawing ] -Alright, everybody, now it's time for us to guess our secret animal.

Is it... Big thanks to all our guides and friends that helped us find so many animals right here in Cocles, including our secret creature.

Now we're gonna get a chance to see some out in the wild.

The two toed sloth is an amazing creature that lives throughout Central and South America.

These creatures spend most of their lives in trees and have special claws that allow them to hang upside down.

♪♪ Because of their claws, their body doesn't have to use a lot of energy to hang that way.

They also have the slowest metabolism of any mammal on our planet, and because of that, they only have to come down from the trees to poop once a week.

The two toed sloth also shares habitat with the three toed sloth.

Both sloths have special fur to allow them to stay cool when it's hot.

Their fur also provides an ecosystem for plants, fungus, and insects.

♪♪ The lubber grasshopper or purple grasshopper, is one of the most beautiful grasshoppers on our planet.

Like all grasshoppers, it lives through five stages of life, or instars.

In its final stage, it actually gets wings and looks completely different than its nymph stage.

♪♪ This grasshopper also poops a lot, which provides natural fertilizer for the plants that it lives on.

♪♪ The eyelash viper is located throughout the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

This snake is highly venomous and should never be touched.

However, the venom that it has, it uses to catch birds, frogs, and lizards.

This is very important to balance the ecosystem that it lives in.

They are also one of the few snakes that have babies in different colors.

♪♪ The brown anole is one of the most common lizards that lives in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

This one here is on a pole doing push-ups.

[ Grunting ] The reason that they do that is to defend their territory.

These lizards have no problem living among humans in all communities.

Which animal do you think it is?

♪♪ And the secret creature is... the two toed sloth.

Wait a minute, you guys.

You have a bonus animal.

♪♪ And the bonus animal is... the three toed sloth.

The two toed and three toed sloth, also known as the two fingered or three fingered sloth, are amazing creatures.

As you can see, they have these really sharp claws that allow them to hang around.

On the three toed sloth, they have three fingers on the front.

On the two toed sloth, they have two fingers on the front.

This allows them to be able to hang around upside down and use very little energy from their body, which has the slowest metabolism of any mammal on our planet.

Their slow movements allow them to move slowly, but also digest their food slowly and do everything slowly, including climb down from the trees to go to the bathroom.

Both two toed and three toed sloths have a fur that has an eco system on it that provides homes for insects, fungus, and plants.

♪♪ These sloths are amazing creatures, and that's why we chose the two toed and three toed sloth as our secret creatures.

♪♪ And now it's time to see some out in the wild.

-"Menghayati!"

-One day, I was sitting for lunch in Cocles, Costa Rica, at a restaurant that was right on the beach.

Suddenly, I looked across the street and I saw some people with a giant antenna.

So I ran across the street and I said, "What are you doing?"

And they said they were actually tracking sloths.

"That's pretty cool.

Can I come along with you?"

So we went along looking for sloth.

Unfortunately, that day we didn't see any.

So, later that day, I decided to have lunch at my favorite vegan restaurant.

Once I sat down, the owner came over to me and said, "You know, there's a sloth that comes out every single night. "

-Hello!

-Two hours later, I saw my first wild two fingered sloth.

♪♪ This was the first time I'd seen a wild two fingered sloth, at a public beach and restaurant, and it was absolutely amazing.

♪♪ Thanks to these animal lovers, The Sloth Conservation Foundation was created and is helping sloths thrive along the Caribbean coast.

♪♪ -Thank you.

-Since they've started, The Sloth Conservation Foundation has installed over 200 wildlife bridges to help sloths and other wildlife cross busy roads between fragmented forests that have been chopped down.

They did this with the help of staff members and international volunteers and a local community who loves animals.

♪♪ Stay tuned.

In just a few moments, we're gonna meet the staff, community members, and more sloths, and see how they're helping them thrive in the wild.

-"Menghayati!"

-Now it's time for "Creature Craft."

♪♪ -What are you guys doing?

-Drawing.

-Drawing.

-Aww!

Did you know that my fun fact of the day is that sloths can't help but smile?

-Aww!

-Aww!

I just love happy animals.

You know what?

Maybe I could show you guys how to draw one.

-So, the first thing we need is a piece of paper and a pen.

♪♪ We're gonna draw a circle, and we want to get his eyes right, so we want to draw little tiny N's.

Let's put his nose and make sure that it's just above his eyes.

And don't forget his smile.

Gonna give him a hat so he has hair on his head.

And we're gonna color in a darker color with our pen.

Once he's filled in, let's scruff him up and give him a squiggly line around his entire face.

♪♪ You make a big "U" for his body.

And then -- really funny -- he has spaghetti arms.

Remember to draw in his claws at the ends.

One, two, three, or one, two, three, four.

And then we're gonna make his arms thicker by just scruffling it up all the way along your line.

♪♪ Let's give him a little fur around his belly, as well.

Let's give him one leg next, and then let's decide where he's gonna hang out.

Let's make a big line so we make a tree branch.

Remember, trees like to say, "Y."

♪♪ Now it's time to draw in his other leg.

Remember to stop as it reaches the tree and have it come through the other side.

You can add leaves.

Now it's up to you to be the artist.

Remember, scruff up his legs and make them nice and furry.

And don't forget his famous claws.

Hey, Emma June, I'm really happy at how good of an artist you are.

And thank you for sharing with everybody how to make a sloth.

-Oh, I'm happy to share any smiling animal with everybody.

He's so cute.

-It's so much fun learning about new animals.

Thanks, Erik, for showing us how animals live in their natural habitats.

Remember, never stop being creative.

I'll talk to you guys soon!

Love, the Art Nanny.

♪♪ -Big thanks to the Art Nanny, Greyson, and Emma June for showing us how to draw some really cool sloths.

And now we're gonna meet Jairo, a local artist from Costa Rica, who's gonna show us some really cool sloth art.

Hey, everybody.

So, we're here with Jairo now to see his amazing, amazing artwork.

So, Jairo, can you tell everybody about what you do and what inspired you to make art with animals in Costa Rica?

-Well, I live in this amazing jungle, so imagine the inspiration I can have with all the animals and insects and snakes and plants and trees and all around.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

Yeah, there are a lot of sloths.

And so I really like sloths, as you can see in this, like, tiny design.

-Yeah, it's a really nice design.

And how do you make -- how do you actually create that?

-This is actually made with a stencil.

-Uh-huh.

-Usually I take, like, a picture as a model... -Yeah.

-...and I draw it and then I make a stencil out of it, hand-cut it... -Yeah, yeah.

-...and then print it.

Either it can be painted like this.

That is, like, acrylic.

-Yeah.

-Spray paint.

-Yeah.

-Special for fabric.

-Uh-huh.

-Or it can be bleached.

-Okay.

-If it's, like, a dark shirt or a dark something... -Yeah.

-...you can just bleach it.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Big thanks to Jairo for sharing his amazing artwork.

And in just a few moments, we're gonna meet more sloths and the sloth conservation team.

♪♪ -"Menghayati!"

-And now it's time for a brief intermission.

In today's intermission, I want to remind you all to be respectful.

Where we are right now is right next to a road, as you can hear all the traffic, and a restaurant where a sloth comes every single night to eat the leaves on the trees.

This restaurant was built many, many years ago, and they didn't realize there was a sloth living here, so they were very careful to not disturb the sloth as much as possible.

So, when people see the sloth at nighttime, the owner makes sure that people don't use bright lights on the sloth and that they keep the lights low to make sure that the sloth stays safe.

So, it usually climbs right along here and right along back here to go to poop.

And so it's really important that we respect this creature and we respect all animals.

And with that said, it's almost time to go on our "Species Adventure."

After meeting our first sloth, we got a chance to meet the sloth conservation team.

That's Dr. Becky, AK, the animal doctor, Jose, and Jack.

♪♪ As our adventure continued, we got a chance to meet both the two and three fingered sloths.

Time for a special message.

Now, we all know how adorable and cute those little sloths are, and if you ever see one out in the wild, you make sure that you always give it its space.

Now, if there's one that's injured, you should definitely call your local wildlife rescue team wherever you are, take pictures and leave footprints.

And now it's time to get back to the sloths.

♪♪ The work that they're doing to track sloths is very important to make sure that they make good decisions about where to install wildlife bridges in areas that were deforested.

♪♪ Since they've started, they've installed over 200 wildlife bridges and created a website to ensure that people can learn more about sloths.

♪♪ Their site even showed an easy way to tell the difference between male and female three fingered sloths.

This is a male sloth, and the reason we know that is because it has what's called a speculum.

In just a few moments, we're gonna have some more sloth adventures and have some fun tracking sloths with their furry friend.

-"Menghayati!"

♪♪ -Hey, you guys.

So, we're with The Sloth Conservation Foundation friends right now, and Jose is actually tracking a sloth named Angel.

And in just a few moments, we're gonna see if we can actually find Angel and how they track sloths using radio trackers.

See you in a minute.

Let's go!

♪♪ I was super excited to have an opportunity to track sloths with Jose and Jack from The Sloth Conservation Foundation.

-My name is Jose, and we are tracking right now at Cocles a sloth named Angel.

Angel is a two fingered sloth.

And we just found this sloth.

♪♪ -This project is called the Urban Sloth Project and tracks sloths that are in developing areas.

♪♪ And there goes Angel.

She's a sloth they've been tracking thanks to a special radio collar.

♪♪ -We just take notes, where she was, and take the data without touching the sloth.

-Okay.

We were so fortunate to see Angel so low in the tree.

Oftentimes the sloths are very high in the tree, and that requires that the team uses binoculars to get their information.

♪♪ You can also see here that Angel has the special radio collar.

This helps them to get information in finding the sloth.

However, once they do, they use their tape measures and equipment to measure the length of the tree, the width of the tree, and this is the best way to get all the information about the sloth.

♪♪ We also got a chance to go on another adventure with Dr. Becky and her assistant, Tamara, and their furry friend.

That's Keysha.

She's part of the sloth conservation team, and she helps find sloths by finding their poop.

[ Dog barks ] -Yes!

-Earlier, we found out that sloths come down from the trees to poop about once a week.

-Okay, Keysha.

And for her, she keeps on doing this because every time she finds poop, I play with her.

-Thanks to Keysha's training, Dr. Becky and her team are easily able to find sloths out in the forest.

Tracking sloths this way is helping with valuable research and helping sloths thrive into the future.

[ Dog barks ] -"Menghayati!"

♪♪ -Now it's time for a "Creature Quiz."

-Why do sloths... move super slow?

-This is a great question.

The reason is, is that sloths have a very slow metabolism.

So, because of that, they eat slow, move slow, and do everything slow.

They also have an ecosystem on their fur that includes plants, insects, and fungus.

♪♪ Hey, everybody.

Now it's time for our sloth "Creature Quiz."

And the first question is... Was it...

If you guessed "A" and "B," the two fingered sloth and the three fingered sloth, you're absolutely right.

Remember, during our time in Costa Rica, we got to see both types, and both types are just a little bit different.

Remember, the two fingered sloth actually has a pig nose.

[ Pig snorting ] And the three fingered sloth doesn't have a pig nose at all.

♪♪ Question number two... Is it...

If you guessed "A," the patch of fur on their back, you're absolutely right.

If you remember correctly, the male three fingered sloth has a patch of fur on the back called the speculum, and it can be in different colors... ♪♪ ...from yellow to orange to brown, and that's the best way to tell the difference between male and female three fingered sloths.

♪♪ Question number three... Is it...

If you guessed "A," the speculum, you're absolutely right.

If you remember correctly, the male three fingered sloth has a patch of fur called the speculum that comes in many different colors.

♪♪ Question number four... Is it...

If you guessed "A," once a week, you're absolutely right.

Sloths come down from the trees once a week to poop because their metabolism is so slow... ♪♪ ...that their colon doesn't get full until about a week.

-Phew!

-Now that we did our sloth "Creature Quiz," it's time to meet our specialist.

♪♪ What an amazing adventure.

We got a chance to work with the community and meet the two and three fingered sloth, go on an adventure with the sloth conservation team to track them, meet amazing artists, and work together with the community to install life bridges to ensure that the sloths survive.

And now it's time to meet the specialist.

-"Menghayati!"

♪♪ Today's specialist is Dr. Becky and the friends from the Sloth Conservation Foundation.

It's really important, the work that they're doing, to make sure sloths stay safe in urban areas and in the forest.

So, when you are a scientist and you study creatures, learning about their behavior, this actually helps the community and the animals thrive better together.

That's so important, the work that they're doing to make sure that this happens.

And without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the friends from The Sloth Conservation Foundation and Dr. Becky.

-So, I've been here in Costa Rica for 15 years, and I'm a scientist.

I specialize in sloths.

I did my PhD in sloths.

And five years ago, I started a nonprofit called The Sloth Conservation Foundation.

So now I live here in the jungle and work to protect and conserve sloths.

♪♪ I came to the jungle, saw my first sloth, and thought they were amazing.

-Mm-hmm.

-I mean, they're like little aliens.

I started to look into them and learn more about them.

And not many scientists had ever worked with them before.

So, I started my project, I fell in love with sloths more and more, and then I never stopped.

-And, wow, did she fall in love.

The creation of The Sloth Conservation Foundation, a team of local and international volunteers, and a wonderful example of what happens when you work together and follow your dreams.

And the team and community in Cocles have one last thing to say.

[ All shouting "Pura vida!"

] -Pura vida!

-Thank you all for watching.

And remember to always follow your dreams, do what you love, take it slow, and enjoy nature.

Bye for now!

♪ It's time to step outside ♪ It's time to follow your dreams ♪ ♪ It's time to step into nature ♪ ♪ And see things you never seen ♪ ♪ A quest to love our planet ♪ Like snakes, it's time to uncurl ♪ ♪ The bees and frogs are in danger ♪ ♪ Let's go around the world -♪ Let's go ♪♪ [ Bird screeches ] ♪♪