Moca

My name is Moca. I was just a baby when the worst thing happened to me.

I was found still clinging to my mother after she had died. When the police came to examine her, they discovered me there, holding on to her, not knowing that she was already gone.

They brought me to the sanctuary, where I was cared for and, at first, grew just like any other young sloth.

But when I was about eight months old, something changed.

My right leg began to spasm. Over time, it became paralyzed, and I lost the ability to use it normally.

That changed what my future could look like.

I cannot be released into the wild. As a female sloth, I would eventually have a baby of my own. But a young two-toed sloth stays with her mother until she is fully grown, and caring for a baby requires strength and mobility that I no longer have.

So I stay here.

It isn’t the life I would have chosen, and it isn’t the life my mother would have chosen for me.

But I am safe. I am cared for. And I have people who make sure I have everything I need.

I lost my mother before I was old enough to understand what happened.

But I was not left alone.