Watch Rare Video of Baby Sloth Being Born and Dangling From Umbilical Cord

Footage of a sloth being born and then dangling from the umbilical cord from a tree has been shared by the tourist guide who filmed it. The newborn sloth can be seen falling and dangling in the air before its mother pulls it in and cradles it from the branch she is hanging from.

The video, which is just over a minute long, was shot by tour guide Steven Vela, who was working in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. According to National Geographic, he had seen the brown-throated sloth, Bradypus variegatus, from his car window. He pulled over and started filming, not realizing what was about to happen.

"A three toed sloth having a baby in the wild is something that you don't see every day," he wrote in a Facebook post.

In a message to National Geographic, he added: "That was something amazing. I hink I will die and I will never see something like that [again]."

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies brown-throated sloths as a species of least concern. They are found across a huge area of Central and South America, living in a variety of forest types, including tropical, cloud and lowland forests. They normally produce one infant per litter at intervals of at least 19 months.

According to research published in PLOS One in 2012, brown-throated three-toed sloths are surprisingly polygamous creatures. Researchers found males excluded competitors from their ranges, and the sedentary lifestyle meant females tended to stay on small patches of habitat, meaning one male could have a monopoly.

Rebecca Cliffe, executive director of the Sloth Conservation Foundation, in Costa Rica, told the magazine that witnessing the birth of a three-toed sloth is fairly rare as they are sedentary and spend most of their time hidden in tree tops. She did, however, see a sloth birth in 2013: "It was all pretty dramatic," she is quoted as saying. In this case, the mother reached down and picked up the baby before eating the amniotic sac, the cord and the placenta.

She told National Geographic: "I don't think [hanging from the umbilical cord] happens in every case. But I suspect it's quite common and doesn't really cause a problem. Just makes everyone watching a little nervous."

Also speaking to the magazine, Sam Trull, from Costa Rica's The Sloth Institute, said he does not believe hanging from the umbilical cord is normal for sloth births, however, he said being able to remain tethered to the mother is useful. "I wouldn't be surprised if sloths have extra-strong umbilical cords," he said.