CINCINNATI — A new baby is on the way at Ohio’s Cincinnati Zoo.
Officials said Lightning has made it through the first trimester of her 10-month pregnancy. The zoo also shared an image from a recent ultrasound, which detected the baby’s legs, arms, spine, head and heartbeat.
In a video streamed Wednesday on Facebook Live, zookeepers announced that Lightning, an 8-year-old two-toed sloth, is pregnant. The baby, due in September or October, will be the first-ever “slowbie” born at the zoo and Lightning’s first with partner Moe, 21, according to a news release.
“It wasn’t love at first sight” for the parents-to-be, who were introduced in December 2019, “but the pair warmed up to each other and couldn’t stay six feet apart during the pandemic,” the zoo quipped in the news release. “They hang together most of the time.”
“This is what a slowbie in utero looks like!” the zoo captioned the image. “We [love] you already!!”