It happened Sunday at the Go Adventure Arenal Park in La Fortuna.
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The tour guide was recording when the child took off on the zipline.
The video then shows the child sliding into the slow-moving animal, bringing the ride to an abrupt stop.
"Don't worry," the tour guide told the young thrill-seeker.
"It's a sloth," the child said, out of breath.
"Yeah," the tour guide responded.
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"I just clocked it straight in the face," the child said.
Flavio Leiton Ramos, the owner of Go.Adventure Park, said the child was the last in a group of eight to leave the platform.
"So seven people went on that cable and there was no sloth on it, and, within 30 seconds, a sloth got on the cable," Ramos said. "The good thing was that the child was doing a great job by using the brake, and also since the tour guide was with him, was able to handle the situation. But really the child did a great job."
Ramos said neither the child nor the sloth were hurt.