Survival of the Slowest: What we can learn from animals that live slowly

Ever feel as if the world is speeding up? OK, turns out recently it is — but I’m talking about the pace of daily life. 

I often feel as if I’m rushing through the day, sprinting from A to B, perpetually behind on my correspondence and obligations, always adding to my to-do list. Even if I do manage to complete the day’s tasks (what a feat!), I’m keenly aware there’s always more I could do (ironic that the culture of optimization has made our outputs feel chronically insufficient). 

Lately, when I ask friends and colleagues how they’re doing, it seems I get one answer: busy. “I can’t believe it’s already [insert month here]!” “How did the week fly by?” “Things are moving so fast!” 

Which makes me wonder, is life supposed to move fast? Is all this busyness better?

I assume the opposite of a fast-paced life is a slow one. But to the ears of modern Western society, that’s like nails on a chalkboard. We love and reward speed, while slowness is scorned. From a slow economy to a slow Wi-Fi connection, “slow” is anathema. 

But what if this pace is at odds with how we’ve evolved to live? 

Recently, while filming The Nature of Things, I met some truly enchanting animals — sloths, banana slugs, sea horses and manatees. 

They’ve adapted to their specific habitats — jungles, rainforests, oceans —  in distinct ways. And despite their differences, they share one unmistakable trait: being slow. 

These animals have survived not in spite of their slowness, but because of it. In fact, it’s a superpower, helping them camouflage, evade predators, maintain a low metabolism and save energy. We called the episode Survival of the Slowest.

The slowest animals

Take the tortoise, featured in our doc and the longest-living land animal known to date (Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise living on the island of Saint Helena, is roughly 193 years old). Scientists believe its long lifespan is partly due to its slow metabolism; having few natural predators, strong shells and unique genes also adds to its success. 

And not only do tortoises have an exceptionally long lifespan, they’ve also been around a long time — over 200 million years, since the age of dinosaurs!

Or what about snails and slugs, two quintessentially slow animals? Their pace hasn’t hindered them; in fact, quite the opposite. These gastropods are incredibly successful: they’ve survived on this planet for at least half a billion years and are second only to insects in abundance and species diversity. 

On land, they’re found everywhere from jungles and rainforests to deserts and mountaintops; and in the water, they live in rivers, lakes and swamps as well as in oceans, from the tropics to the poles (they’re even found in the deep, frigid waters of Antarctica). Clearly slow is working for them.

But of all the creatures I met on this journey, the most moving (sorry) was the sloth — the slowest mammal on Earth. 

There is something mesmerizing about sloths. Watching them is like witnessing life in slow motion, as if time is stretched out. 

Because of their pace and their damp, nutrient-rich fur, algae literally grows on their backs. 

While the term “sloth” signifies laziness (indeed, it’s one of the seven deadly sins), it’s an unfair misnomer. These animals aren’t indolent; they move at the exact pace they’ve evolved for. 

They have an exceptionally sluggish digestion, slow metabolism and poor eyesight — all good reasons to take their time moving. And their ability to camouflage is astounding: they are so still and look so much like coconuts and foliage that they’re extremely hard to detect, which is partly why much about them is still unknown. 

See how sloths evade predators — by being super slow

January 16|

Duration 1:34

In this clip from the documentary Survival of the Slowest, co-host Sarika Cullis-Suzuki learns how life in the slow lane helps sloths survive. The film explores how nature's slowest creatures have adapted to thrive. Watch it now on CBC Gem and The Nature of Things YouTube channel.

Sloths also have a great spatial memory and sense of smell and are extraordinarily strong (can you hang by your limbs for up to 20 hours straight? Spoiler: I didn’t even last a minute). Sloths are perfectly adapted to their unique lifestyles and have no reason to speed up. 

Which makes me think about us humans again. At what speed does our species thrive?

I suppose time will tell. But on a personal level, I know the days that roar by are the ones most quickly forgotten. The busier I am, the faster time seems to pass. It’s only when I slow down that I feel more present and alert and can truly engage with what — and who — is around me.

Maybe the tortoise, snail and sloth had it right all along. Maybe living slower could benefit us all. 

I’m putting that on my to-do list.

Watch Survival of the Slowest on CBC Gem and The Nature of Things YouTube channel.