The sleepy land of Slothville is holding an alternative Olympic games: the SLOTHLYMPICS. Whilst the rest of the world praises speed, here at the headquarters of the Sloth Appreciation Society, we believe that being fast is over-rated and there is much to be said for living life at a more leisurely pace. What some consider laziness is simply being energy efficient, something we could all do more of, and deserves to have its own awards.
The slothletes taking part in these alternative games are from the Aviarios del Caribe sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica and the AIUNAU sloth sanctuary in Colombia. All are orphans and have been training for months to be on top torpid form to compete in this special event.
Here are some of the highlights of the championship so far.
CREATIVE COMA: Slothletes must complete a 90 minute nap in their most avant-garde position. Points awarded for artistic flair and innovation.
TEDDY WRESTLING: AKA the snuggle and snooze, slothletes must cuddle for an entire round and not be woken by the bell.
BUCKET VAULT: What they lack in speed sloths make up for in arboreal acrobatics. In this event the slothletes must demonstrate their physical strength, agility, coordination and balance on the red bucket.
THE CUTE-OFF: Spectators unaccustomed to high levels of cute are advised to shield their eyes and try not to squee during this hotly contested event, the ultimate cutie contest.
COMPETITIVE BEAN-EATING: It's Lady versus the Tramp in this race to eat the greatest portion of the bean.
10000m SPRINT: With a top ground speed of fifteen feet a minute slothletes taking part in this long distance race are expected at the finishing line sometime in early 2013.
SLUMBER MARATHON: Sloths are not as dozy as people think - sleeping only 12-15 hours a day - but this is still a major event with celebrated snoozers duking it out over who can have the longest zzzz.
Lucy's first book, 'A Little Book of Sloth' featuring some of the above slothletes will be published by Simon and Schuster in March 2013 and a percentage of the proceeds will go towards supporting the orphaned baby sloths. Pre-order a copy from Amazon here.
Watch Lucy's latest TV series, 'Freaks and Creeps', on National Geographic Wild on Saturday August 4th at 10pm. There are no sloths in the show but there is a rather cute orphaned pangolin that looks remarkably like a miniature scaly sloth.