EMERGENCY PETITION TO LIST THE PYGMY THREE-TOED SLOTH

An emergency ESA listing of the pygmy sloth as an endangered species would greatlyreduce the potential for the export of the species to the United States, raise the profile ofthe species thereby generating greater attention to its protection and conservation, andpotentially provide the government of Panama, scientists, and conservation organizationswith access to funding to improve the protection and conservation of the species and itshabitat.Logging1. Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification, or Curtailmentof its Habitat or RangeAs described previously, a recent increase in logging on the island could be acontributing factor to the decline of the pygmy three-toed sloth as this species relies onthe mangrove forest ecosystem for its survival. According to Kaviar et al. (2012) thedisturbance and fragmentation of pygmy sloth habitat, including through the cutting ofexisting occupied mangrove thickets “could contribute to a decline of their population,”since this species survival is so reliant on forest mangrove habitat. Kaviar et al. (2012)also emphasized that the pygmy three-toed sloth can only survive in the wild if itsmangrove habitat is protected.Figure 3. Regression analysis indicating the population of pygmy three-toed sloth as dependent onmangrove area, where y = 0.0005x+1 and R2 = 0.80493. From Kaviar et al.(2012) (available athttp://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0049854).7