No Named (Yet) Baby Sloth

Dunedin's Baby Sloth Meets Anderson Cooper

The famed anchor personality interviewed Pet Safari owner Larry Lipke for a segment on new daytime talk show.

By Katie Dolac

A Dunedin pet store's baby two-toed sloth is attracting celebrity attention.

The little guy (or gal) was only born in March and has already managed to capture the heart of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

Pet Safari store owner Larry Lipke was flown with the sloth to New York on Sept. 14, where he was interviewed for a 10-minute segment on Cooper's new daytime talk show "Anderson."

Cooper has a known affinity for the slow moving, treetop-dwelling creature, Lipke reported to his Pet Safari Facebook followers. A Pet Safari employee said he adored Dunedin's sloth.

It is considered rare for sloths to reproduce in captivity, but the imported adult sloths at Pet Safari have reared two. The first infant sloth was born in 2007. It was eventually adopted to a human family after about a year. The latest Pet Safari sloth has grown to about a foot long and is yet unnamed. Its sex is not yet determined. Lipke said a sloth's sex is difficult to determine.

“We weren’t buying them to breed,” Lipke said in March of his three adult sloths – male Scarface and females Baby and Blondie. “All it means is we’re taking care of them properly.”

The baby sloth makes its talk show debut in a segment tentatively scheduled to air Friday, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. on ABC (Channel 11).

"Anderson" premiered on Sept. 12.

Pet Safari visitors may observe the mother (named Baby) and baby in the sloth room during store hours. The pet store also offers educational programs for groups.

Watch Pet Safari's sloths on the SlothCam.



"Baby has a baby," Pet Safari owner Larry Lipke said. His two-toed sloth delivered a healthy newborn on
Sunday, March 5, at 8:05 p.m. Credit Katie Dolac

Store owner Larry Lipke recounts the birth story of a newborn two-toed sloth. Credit Katie Dolac