Parents' Guide to

Meet the Sloths

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Sweet sloth sanctuary series focuses on sick, hurt animals.

TV Animal Planet Reality TV 2013
Meet the Sloths Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 3+

Based on 1 parent review

mathildeh
mathildeh Adult
June 22, 2016
age 3+

This show teaches you how to treat Wild animals as pets...

This show is an absolute joke! The "science" they use is fales. And they treat this animals like helpless creatures that cannot use their instincts. They treat Them like pets, touches them, hugs, kisses and project human feelings into the animals. If your kid is 1-2 fine, cause this is nothing but an real life Cartoon. I mean... They get surpriced if the sloths get pregnant, but keeps male and females together... I mean come on. And they dont feed Them the right food.... Disaster as a documentary... It might look cute.. But if you know anything about animals you can see this is bad
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

MEET THE SLOTHS is a reality series featuring some of the day-to-day events at the Aviarios del Caribe Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica. The series follows owner Judy Avey-Arroyo and some members of the sanctuary staff, including sloth nursery manager Claire Trimer and scientist Becky Cliffe, as they take care of approximately 150 sloths of various species that have been injured or orphaned in the wild. From catering to the sanctuary's first sloth and ambassador known as Princess Buttercup to nursing baby sloths back to health, the team takes care of and studies the animals in hopes of giving them better lives while learning more about them.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Meet the Sloths offers lots of information about sloths, whose cute facial features, slow, graceful movements, and unique digestive patterns make them entertaining to watch. It also reveals some of the challenges that come with taking care of them, especially when they're ill or have birth defects that can lead to their demise. Details about some of the experiments conducted on the animals also are offered.

It's fun and interesting, but the series also serves as a publicity vehicle for the sanctuary, which is part of a family-owned tourist attraction. Also controversial is the fact that the sanctuary rehabilitates and releases very few sloths back into the wild. But the show goes far to help viewers understand many of the human and environmental threats to these animals and some of the efforts being made to help them.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the reasons behind creating reality shows about specific animals. Is it to educate people about them? To protect them?

  • What are the dangers associated with making cute or interesting animals more appealing to humans? Do you think what you see on these TV shows offers a real picture of the conditions in which these animals live?

  • What is the difference between an animal refuge and an animal sanctuary? What kinds of training do people need to run a sanctuary? What roles do they play in helping animals around the world?

TV Details

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