Losing your mom can be scary. Luckily for one orphaned sloth found on the beaches of Costa Rica, he's holding up just fine.

He's also holding on quite tightly to his new friend, a large, fluffy plush toy.

On Tuesday, the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica (SSCR) shared the above photo of its newest resident, Ash.

 
The photo's caption tells the story of Ash's rescue: "A local Puerto Viejo couple were on the beach and saw something tiny and white moving under a nearby almond tree."

He had fallen from the tree and there wasn't a mother sloth anywhere to be found.


"The rescuers brought the baby to us and had named the sloth Ashley, though it was shortened to Ash — when our vets determined [he] was a male," the caption continued.
SSCR is a home for orphaned and injured sloths who need a place to rest and recover until they can go back into the wild, but it's also a permanent home for those sloths who were orphaned at a particularly young age.




"Orphaned/abandoned infants did not stay with their mothers long enough to learn which leaves to eat, how to avoid predators, how to safely transfer to other foraging areas," reads the SSCR's website. "At the Sanctuary, we try our best to substitute-teach rescued infants these life skills and, through veterinary care and balanced nutrition, help build their immunity against disease."


Below is a photo of yet another baby sloth who entered the sanctuary this year.


As you can tell, stuffed animals are popular among the young sloths.


Sloths typically live 10 to 16 years in the wild, but every so often they need help from humans, like this sloth below who was found clinging to a pole on the side of a highway.
If you find a baby sloth or another orphaned animal, you shouldn't risk endangering yourself or the animal. Contact a professional. Find a wildlife rehabilitator in your area here.