Supporting Electrocuted Sloth Victims in Costa Rica
This fundraiser exists because I’ve seen this problem up close — and once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to look away.
I’ve personally worked on research and data collection around wildlife deaths caused by electric fencing and overhead cables. What stood out wasn’t just the numbers — it was how preventable so many of these injuries are.
Sloths don’t understand boundaries we create. They move through trees the way they always have, in a landscape that’s becoming more fragmented every year.
And sometimes, that movement ends in electrocution.
In an already challenging world for wildlife, fragmentation adds another invisible threat. Power lines. Electric fences. Cables installed for safety or convenience — but deadly to animals that rely on connected forest canopies to survive.
Some sloths die instantly.
Others survive, but with devastating injuries — burns, nerve damage, loss of limbs, or long-term trauma.
Those animals don’t make headlines. They quietly arrive at rescue centres, where the real work begins.
I set this fundraiser up to support the rescue centre caring for these sloths — the people who treat the burns, manage infections, support long recoveries, and do everything possible to give these animals a chance at release.
This kind of care takes time, skill, and resources. And when funding is limited, animals wait longer than they should — sometimes with life-changing consequences.
The money raised here goes directly towards:
- Emergency medical treatment for electrocuted sloths
- Burn care, medications, and veterinary supplies
- Long-term rehabilitation and specialist care
- Transport for treatment and, when possible, safe release back into the wild
These funds don’t fix fragmentation overnight — but they do mean an injured sloth gets help when it needs it most.
This is already a difficult world for wildlife. Habitat loss, climate pressure, human expansion — and on top of that, hazards they can’t see or avoid.
This fundraiser is about responding where we can. About easing the pressure on rescue teams. And about turning preventable injury into a second chance at life.
If you choose to donate, you’re helping support real care for real animals — and standing alongside the people doing this work every day.
Thank you for reading, and for caring about wildlife that is too often harmed simply for existing in the wrong place.
If you’d like to read more about this fundraiser you can find additional information on our website here:
Organizer
Richard Bailey
Organizer