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A special guest helped the Denver Zoo announce the name of their new baby sloth

It’s not wise to upset the Denver Zoo's new baby sloth.

DENVER — Denver Zoo voters let the wookiee win.

On Friday, the zoo announced the two-toed sloth, born in April, would be named Wookiee.

Angie Mayhew -- the widow of Peter Mayhew, who played the Stars Wars character Chewbacca -- helped the zoo make the announcement on a YouTube video.

Over the past four weeks, guests have been able to vote on his name. The choices were Lando, Wookiee and Kylo.

People voted on the name for the past four weeks.

A donation of at least $1 was required to vote and the zoo said more than $10,000 was raised for conservation efforts in the process.

Credit: Denver Zoo

In true sloth fashion, Wookiee made everyone wait for his birth.

RELATED: PHOTOS | Denver Zoo welcomes 2nd baby sloth

He arrived on April 11, born to mom Charlotte Greenie and her mate Elliot.

RELATED: The sloth at the Denver Zoo is pregnant again

When the zoo announced Charlotte’s pregnancy in December, they estimated that the baby would be born as early as January. However, sloth due dates are notoriously challenging to predict because sloths are primarily active at night and we rarely observe their breeding.

Wookie clung to Charlotte immediately after birth and will remain attached to her almost exclusively for at least six months.

Guests are welcome and encouraged to visit Charlotte and Wookiee in their Bird World habitat, but should note that a clear view of the baby might be impaired by foliage or Charlotte’s tight embrace. Keepers say the best time to visit is late in the afternoon when Charlotte is more likely to be moving around.

Linne’s two-toed sloths, which are also known as the Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth or southern two-toed sloth, are found in the rainforests of South America, primarily in Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. They are a nocturnal species that spend 15 to 20 hours per day sleeping, and become active about an hour after sunset until about two hours before sunrise. 

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