The Slowest Animals In The World

The fastest animal on planet earth is the cheetah, it has been known to reach speeds of 75 miles per hour and can reach 69.5 miles per hour in three seconds – faster than an accelerating sports car. But what about the creatures at the other end of the spectrum? Some animals on earth barely move at all, and when they do, it seems as if they do it in slow motion. Read on to find out five of the world’s slowest animals.

5. Koala

Credit: Shutterstock image by jdross75

In 2016, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced the three-toed sloth is officially the slowest mammal on earth. Sloths spend the majority of their time eating, sleeping, and resting in jungle treetops across Central and South America. Similar to the koala, sloths do not have a nutrient-dense diet. They have a slow metabolism to cope with their low calory intake and move very slowly to preserve their energy. As they spend most of their time curled up in trees of the jungle, they are seldom met with the threat of predators thus have no need to move quickly. On average sloths travel 41 yards per day and sleep for around 15 hours.