This happens once a week. The sloth climbs down, digs a small bowl in the ground with its tail, and poos.  It covers up its latrine with leaves before climbing back up.

This behaviour is bizarre. Sloths not only burn 8 percent of their daily calories on these laborious descents and climbs, but they are incredibly easy prey on the ground. Look at the video—Attenborough only has to slowly lean forward to scrag the animal. In fact, more than half of all sloth deaths are due to predators killing them while travelling to and fro their low latrines. If a sloth s**ts in the woods, predators seem to know.

So why do it? Surely, there must be some advantage. Otherwise, why waste