Stories
One animal that licks clay and it’s not a Macaw
Here in the Amazon rainforest we can find a huge diversity of animals and plants, and each one has a strategy to survive and avoid predators. Some plants can produce toxins to try not to be eaten by the herbivorous such as parakeets, macaws, tapirs, squirrels, monkeys, and sloths. These animals need other strategies to neutralize the toxins from these plants, and one way to do that is by consuming clay. Here is a story about one animal that licks clay and it’s not a macaw.
Macaws (Ara Macao) Photo by Paul Bertner
One popular tour in Tambopata is the visit to Chuncho, where it’s easy to see hundreds of macaws, parrots, and parakeets eating clay. It is an amazing experience that you cannot miss when you visit the Peruvian Amazon jungle.
Besides macaws, a lot of species of mammals can visit clay licks too. Clay licks are more than Macaws, this clay helps them to remove toxins from seeds, fruits, and leaves that they get on their usual diet. Also is an extra source of salts and minerals; this activity it’s called geophagia.
But in this blog, I want to tell you about one species of animals that I saw twice clay licking on the trails at Refugio Amazonas lodge (sloths).
After a few rainy days, we found a Two-toed Sloth mom and her baby, on a side of the trail, on the ground consuming clay. It was an amazing experience to see this charismatic species with a cute baby.
The Sloths spend almost all the time hanging upside down in the branches of trees, they climb down just to excrete (about once each week) and clay lick. Is their most vulnerable moment, and for this mom and her baby it will be a risk, but the mom needs to do it.
So… the sloths do everything from the trees?
Well, if you have ever asked this question, the answer is yes…
Sloths can sleep, mate, and give birth on trees, and the mom can travel on the trees carrying her baby for the first five weeks. The youngster can stay with the mom for between six to almost two years. After that, they reach sexual maturity at the age of three years for females and four years for males. It sounds like a lot of time to get to mature, but that’s typically for big mammals that can live many years.
The second time was a few weeks ago, walking to the light trap at night with the low battery from my headlight. After a micro heart attack, I stayed there watching it closely. I guess he did not even realize that I observed him… it stayed there clay-licking for at least 8 minutes, and then it starts to move slowly to a tree; once it held the trunk, it climbs up very fast, at that time, I saw that the sloths are not so slow; in fact, they are quite fast climbing trees, and very good swimmers.
Before moving to the southeast jungle of Peru, I did not imagine that everyday living here, would be a new lesson, a very fun way to discover an immense amount of things, this type of experience makes me learn more about its greatest biodiversity. This time I have learned a lot about sloths, and I’ve enjoyed the incredible experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life, I’m sure this Amazon jungle will continue surprising me. Clay licks are more than Macaws!
Discover more about the Amazon wildlife at our special section or chat with one of our Rainforest Specialists.
By Adela Indriago
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What our guest say
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The lodge is located in the middle of the forest accessible only by boat. The experience was very unique and exciting. Service is great, and the fun part are the nature activities and tours the hotel offers for free. We had an amazing tour guide that had a lot of knowledge and was fun to spend time with. The rooms are totally open to the forest which is really cool the struggle is the there is no privacy at all in between the rooms, also food was pretty basic. All together a very unique experience. Read all
This hotel is the perfect blend of comfort and hospitality, with the natural experience. The hotel is reached by a hours boat ride from Puerto Maldonado, expertly organized and accomplished. Most staff are members of the local Esa Ejja community. The food is good and plentiful. Hot water is always available and lovely bedding features mosquito nets. There is of course no air conditioning (one side wall is open in rach room) and the electricity is off for a few hours at night affecting overhead fans, so I was glad to have brought a small battery powered fan for sleeping. But the best of the experience is the wildlife. Our expert guide Oscar Mishaja introduced us to nearly 100 bird species, along with caimans, river otters, poison dart frogs and capybara. A trip of a lifetime. Read all
Excellent experience overall— really kind and welcoming staff at every point of the journey. All transfers were well organized and smooth. Excellent and educational excursions all around the rainforest. Delicious food for every meal. We had wonderful guides- Freet and Alvaro. Enjoyed our time here! Read all
We had a surreal experience at Refugio Amazonas. From the well organized transportation to the warm welcome, hospitality and the experience of living in nature - we loved it all. Huge shout out to our guide Boris who went out of his way to ensure we had a good experience and got to watch all kinds of wild life. The meals and cocktails were delicious. And even though this place is smack in the middle of the jungle there was super fast WiFi available. We made unforgettable memories. Read all
We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. Read all
We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. This is the only lounge available in Tambopata national park, and this eco lounge takes environment seriously. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. If you are a natural lover, you can’t miss this place Read all
Excellent and luxurious place, wonderful experience and our guide Boris was first class, he had a unique patience with my 8 year old son. An experience in the tropical rainforest that marks the life of its visitors. In addition to the scientific research that takes place in the place: a whole research center. Rooms: Very comfortable and luxuriou Read all
El mejor hotel para visitar la Amazonia peruana. Hotel eco turístico metido en medio de la selva, equipado para visitar y vivir la selva, su flora y fauna, en todas sus facetas. Todo incluido, con guías preparados y amables, resultó una experiencia increíble para mi familia. Dentro de las opciones no se debe perder el Canopy de 45 metros de altura para observar y escuchar la selva, así como el lago de las tres Chimbadas, lugar único para ver caimanes, nutrias gigantes, monos y aves exóticas. Recomiendo mínimo dos noches!!! Read all
Wunderbare lodge mit freundlichen Menschen. sehr persönliche guides, tolle Tourangebote und super kulinarische Verpflegung ! Wir wurden herzlichst von Caesar empfangen und unser guide JuanJo hat uns phantastische Dinge gezeigt. Wir können die lodge nur wärmstens empfehlen! Read all
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