Did you know sloths only go to the bathroom once a week?
During a recent Animal Ambassador Tour at SeaWorld Orlando, the park’s trainers shared this and other facts about five animal ambassadors.
Henry, an eastern screech owl, broke his jaw in a fall. It’s healed, but he couldn’t be released into the wild, which is how he ended up at the theme park.
Mila, the two-toed sloth, was rescued from Panama, where she was found orphaned at a construction site.
Moonbeam, the common green iguana, was found on a local playground.
Mattie, the bald eagle, broke her wing at 5 weeks old. It never healed correctly, so she couldn’t be released into the wild and now calls SeaWorld home.
Sloths’ coarse hairs have holes, which helps it accumulate algae and creates a camouflage in the wild.
Tawny frogmouths can elongate their bodies and look upward to make themselves look like a small log.
The food Mila eats today will take about a month to digest.
Mattie was the first animal ambassador at SeaWorld.
An iguana can drop its tail to escape.
Tradition dictates that birds of prey are held with a trainer’s left hand because when these creatures were used in the past for hunting, people riding horses needed to hold the reins with their dominant hand — which was generally the right hand.
Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day.
Iguanas are an invasive species. They are native to South America.
Mattie has a wingspan of about 7 feet.
Mila’s favorite treat is hibiscus flowers.
An iguana’s tongue helps it gather information about its surrounding — it can help the animal identify familiar things.