Photo by Juan Arredondo juanarre | Rescued two-toed sloths, about four months old, climb out of their baskets to snack on apple slices at the Aiunau sanctuary in Medellín, Colombia. Baby sloths are poached and illegally trafficked as pets, a trade that peaks during the year-end holiday season. At the sanctuary, the rescued sloths are kept isolated from human contact to minimize the risk of habituation. They go through a process of rehabilitation and medical care until they're ready to be released into their natural habitat. Before the pandemic, writer natashaldaly and I set out in northern Colombia to track down a sloth cartel, as part of National Geographic's continuing coverage of wildlife trade and tourism. We'd learned about Isaac Bedoya, who police believe trafficked 10,000 baby sloths before he was arrested. We met poachers and followed them as they searched for sloths in territory largely controlled by armed groups, in order to document how this trade operates. Follow the lin...