Krefeld, Germany - There are few creatures in the world more beloved than the sloth, a slow and adorable creature that never fails to amuse. How old is the oldest sloth, though? Do they live long?

When talking about sloths, most people are going to bring up how ridiculously slow and goofy they are, and few people are going to mention how long they can live.

As a result, it's time to introduce you to Jan, the animal world record holder for being the oldest sloth in the world. How did Jan get so old? What life lessons can we learn?

A sloth named Jan, who has just celebrated his 54th birthday, is the world record holder for the oldest sloth in history. At more than half a decade old, Jan has more than doubled his life expectancy and, from his home at Krefeld Zoo near Essen in Germany, has lived through many historical events and many personal milestones.

One such milestone is that he has now, at 54, managed to father his 22nd child, having outlived many of his previous children. This slow grandpa sloth has, as a result, achieved far more in his life than most would expect from a slow sloth like him.

It is believed that Jan was born in 1969 or 1970, as he was found in South America on the 1st of May 1970, at which point he was believed to be between five and six months old. His zoo then gave him a makeshift birthday of April 30th, as that was the day on which he arrived in Krefeld in 1986.

Jan became the Guinness World Records (GWR) award winner for the oldest living sloth in captivity and the oldest sloth in captivity ever on May 16, 2024. At this point, he had well exceeded the life expectancy of your average sloth, which sits at around 20 years according to the World Wildlife Fund.

As a two-toed sloth, Jan is understandably slow, sluggish, and incredibly adorable. Whether or not you appreciate his ability to live so long, you have to appreciate his ability to act casual!

Jan has lived at Krefeld Zoo since the 1980s, where he has been looked after extremely carefully and fed a very healthy diet. As a result of being in captivity, sloths typically live longer – averaging 30 to 40 years – and are provided with the best medical treatment there is.

Known for being super slow, Jan eats mostly leaves, fruit, and sap from trees as he slowly moves along, hanging upside down from ropes and branches all day long. In fact, he has spent the vast majority of his more than 50 years hanging upside down.

Few animals are as fastidious and careful about their hygiene as the sloth, and Jan is no exception to this rule. He keeps himself clean and healthy and even enjoys the company of others hanging from the tree tops.

He might seem lazy to us outsiders, but when you consider the fact that sloths are actually endangered animals, the fact that Jan has 22 children to his name means that this grandpa sloth has certainly done his fair share for the species.

When it comes to a world record, there are worse ones to beat than one for being the oldest of something. After all, it means that you've lived a long and fruitful life. For Jan, the oldest sloth in the world, that is most certainly the case.