While sloths may be one of the slowest moving animals on the planet, these long-limbed creatures’ popularity has soared across American culture throughout the last decade, stealing the hearts of many with their adorable faces. Attracting attention through beloved children’s movies like “Ice Age” and “Zootopia,” sloths have become beloved faces for memes, clothing, and accessories.
Even Kristen Bell sounded the alarm on these once-underrated animals, revealing her husband’s best birthday gift ever to her – a live visit with a sloth that left the “Frozen” star in tears. Continuing its social climb, La Brea Tar Pits, one of the world’s most famous fossil localities, invites visitors this summer for their special programming, a dedication to the science and wonders of sloths.
La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles is an active paleontological research site with more than 100 previous excavations. At the center of the site is a museum, which opened in 1977 under the name of George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries before it and the excavation site were renamed collectively in 2019 as La Brea Tar Pits. Inside the museum, visitors can see the La Brea Tar Pits teams work digging fossils out from asphalt at outdoor dig sites, witnessing first-hand the processes of paleontology in the Tar Pits’ famous Fossil Lab.
La Brea Tar Pits has a rich history with the popular animal, already having found three different types of sloths at the Tar Pits. These include the Shasta, the Jefferson’s, and the Harlan’s ground sloth – all of which are much larger and intimidating than the charming modern-day sloths many are familiar with today.
Sloths may be an icon of the Ice Age, but these former residents of Los Angeles have a chill and laid-back attitude that still resonates with many proud city residents today. Recognizing the treasured spot these curved-claw animals have on many peoples’ hearts, La Brea Tar Pits is opening their doors June 3rd through Labor Day to guests, offering an opportunity to participate in unique self-guided tours, witness the Ice Age come to life in “Titans of the Ice Age,” and even touch a fossil.
Continuing on the success of the museum’s popular “2023 Sloth Soirée,” La Brea Tar Pits invites you to take a left at the entrance of their famous museum and relish the sights and knowledge around sloths curated by their team. The self-guided tour offers you the chance to spot sloths throughout your journey, like the Harlan’s Ground Sloth exhibit, an impressive six-foot tall mounted skeleton assembled from real giant sloth bones discovered at the site that are still being dug up from the Tar Pits today. If the six-foot display is a little intimidating, or not enough, guests are invited to feel a real Harlan sloth femur on display.
Visitors are welcome to La Brea Tar Pits sloth programming throughout summer, but for those looking for a celebrity moment, the museum will host a meet-and-greet with a live sloth on July 26, followed by an exploration at their own pace with a self-guided “Summer of Sloths” tour inside.
