'Secret' sloth baby born at London Zoo: VIDEO
Astonished keepers at London Zoo had no idea female sloth Marilyn even liked male sloth Leander – let alone was making babies with him
Marilyn, the London Zoo sloth, has given her keepers bit of a shock – and produced a baby.
The keepers had no idea Marilyn was pregnant. Or even that she was, erm, getting friendly with fellow sloth Leander.
Leander and Marilyn were introduced in 2012 but courtship in the sloth world can be a long old process: it can take nearly a decade for the male to woo the female into a babymaking mood.
But it seems the sloth couple got jiggy right under their zookeepers' noses.
"To say we were surprised is something of an understatement – we weren't aware that Marilyn had even been near the male," zookeeper Tegan McPhail said.
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"When Leander arrived at the zoo at the end of 2012, he and Marilyn just didn't appear particularly interested in each other, but we knew that with sloths these things can take some time.
"However, with the arrival of the first sloth to be born at London zoo, it appears that it was all an act on their behalf and our two very sneaky sloths were getting amorous behind our backs."
It's too early to tell what sex the baby sloth is, but it can already be spotted clinging to its mother.
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