World

Famous National Zoo sloth dies after rapid health decline

3 December 2025
https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/12/02/20/36/Untitled-design-(1).png?width=1200&auto=webp&trim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0
National Zoo sloth Athena has passed away
National Zoo sloth Athena has passed away (Facebook/Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)
  • Athena, a 7-year-old Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C., died overnight on 13 November.
  • Her death followed a rapid and irreversible decline in health, with zoo officials announcing she had been diagnosed with early-onset chronic kidney disease.
  • Keepers observed Athena losing weight, sleeping more, and showing less interest in her favourite foods in the months leading up to her death.
  • On 13 November, she received intravenous fluids and anti-nausea treatment at the zoo’s veterinary hospital but died later that night while under observation.
  • Athena was known for her spirited and mischievous personality, challenging the perception of sloths as lazy animals.
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