Hattiesburg Zoo has a new baby sloth

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Hattiesburg Zoo has a new baby sloth.

It is believed to be the first sloth birth ever in a Mississippi zoo.

The zoo welcomed in the new baby sloth Feb. 5. The mother and father are Mo and Chewy.

The zoo reached out to the San Diego Zoo, Atlanta Zoo, and a zoo in Sweden who all have experienced sloth birth's first hand, to help them best care for it.

Animal care manager, Stephen Taylor said, "Late last year, we noticed mom put on a little bit of baby weight. All of the keepers, we immediately assumed the mom was pregnant. So, we actually did an ultrasound late last year. The results were kind of inclusive. We found something small in there, but obviously, we missed what was in there. Because a few months later, we came in one morning and the baby had already been born. The mom had already cleaned it up and taken care of the baby, and did all the business there. The baby still isn't nursing on its own. We're really hoping that the baby will get coordinated enough to figure it out and start nursing. But, time will tell with all that. But, until then, we're going to be handling the baby."

The zoo cannot tell the sloth's gender yet.

The zoo will send its hair to a lab soon to figure out its gender.