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Headline: Cincinnati Zoo's Sloth Lightning Recovering After Giving Birth To Baby Juno
Caption: **RAW VIDEO** Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s newest sloth arrival, Juno, the Linne’s two-toed sloth that was born on 7 June 2023, is helping mum, 10-year-old Lightning, recover after suffering health issues related to postpartum recovery and will be moved to the “Juno is doing great, but we want to make sure that Lightning is in good health before we move the pair,” said Cincinnati Zoo’s manager of ambassador animals Julie Grove. “About a week after she gave birth, vets treated her for an infection caused by a retained placenta. She recovered well from that but has not been 100% herself. Her appetite has been off recently, so the vet staff did another full exam on her yesterday.” Because the antibiotics used to eradicate her infection can be hard on the gastrointestinal system, the vet team focused on that during the exam. They looked at her esophagus and mouth and put a scope down into her stomach to look for any redness, irritation, or ulcerations that could explain why she hasn’t been eating well. “The good news was we didn’t find anything majorly concerning,” said Cincinnati Zoo veterinarian Dr. Jessica Heinz. “We did do a little bit of teeth work on her, and everything looks good. So, we’re going to give her some supportive medications for her gastrointestinal tract and hopefully that’s going to get her back on the right track.” While mum was receiving medical attention, Juno got a much-needed bath and some extra TLC from the sloth team. Juno’s sex is not yet known, and it may be some time before that is determined. It is difficult to identify the gender of a sloth and often requires DNA testing to know for sure!
Keywords: sloth,cincinnati zoo,animal,nature,natural world,babies,photo,feature,video
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