He was one of John Ball Zoo's longest residents. Linus the Sloth has died at age 39. 

Linus was one year old when he arrived to John Ball Zoo in 1983. He came to Grand Rapids from the Milwaukee County Zoo. During his time at the zoo, Linus shared space with other sloths, monkeys, armadillos, and tortoises. The zoo keepers say that Linus was a friendly animal. Linus was a typical sloth sleeping for 15 hours a day.

In 2020, Linus had a runny nose. He was experiencing chronic nasal discharge. Zookeepers ran a CT scan on him where they found a mass. Under the care of the Animal Care and Animal Health teams, they tried different treatments but decided in the end that he would not enjoy a good quality of life. The zoo announced the sad news on their Facebook page. Fans were commenting on their memories of Linus, thanking zookeepers and posting pictures of him.

Courtesy of John Ball Zoo
Courtesy of John Ball Zoo
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Linne's two-toed sloths typically live up to 20 years in the wild, while those in captivity can grow as old as 40. Linus was considered a senior sloth.

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