The death of a female sloth that gained international attention after being featured in documentary films was recently reported in Costa Rica. The documentaries were produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as well as by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) of the United States.

The following press release was issued by the Sloth Institute, located within the Manuel Antonio National Park, in the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica:

Life can be both beautiful and tragic.

Today we share with you the news that Monster, everyones beloved three fingered sloth, has passed away to the forces of nature. Through no fault of her own and what ultimately amounts to really bad luck, Monster was attacked in the rainforest by an ocelot, a main predator of sloths.

Monster was a star with Natures Miracle Orphans and put a smile on all of our faces. Her life began at Kids Saving the Rainforest; she was raised by Sam since she was weeks old. We know that she not only touched our hearts but all of yours too. During this time of sadness, we must try and remember the fact that she experienced many amazing months of freedom in the rainforest, all because of Sam and her team’s dedicated efforts.

This is an extreme time of sadness for Sam and The Sloth Institute (TSI) team, and we ask that you keep us in your thoughts and allow us time to grieve. Despite the huge highs and sorrowful lows of this type of work, we will continue to devote our lives to ensuring the conservation of sloths on our planet.

As Sam recently expressed, “No matter what the future holds for Monster, good or bad, I know in my heart she was meant to be free and is so happy to be back in the rainforest”.

In her memory, we are establishing the Monster Memorial Fund. Funds raised will go toward our Wild Sloth Health (WiSH) research efforts so that we may continue to monitor different health parameters to get an overall picture of the quality of life of populations of sloths. The lab we hope to build will be named Monster’s WiSH Lab.