31 sloths died at Sloth World Orlando-owned warehouse: FWC reports

Article Text: > ORLANDO, Fla. - As Sloth World Orlando prepares to open its "slotharium" on Orlando's famed International Drive, some questions are being raised after more than two dozen sloths under its care died, according to reports by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). > FOX 35's Hannah Mackenzie has been looking into the reports and the situation for the last several months. > According to the FWC's report, the sloths were ordered in two different shipments: One shipment from Guyana arrived on December 18, 2024. The second shipment arrived from Peru in February 2025. > The sloths were housed in a warehouse roughly two minutes from where Sloth World Orlando is preparing to open. That warehouse, according to FWC's report, was designed for "receiving and raising 2-toed and 3-toed sloths that will then be transferred to sloth world for a permanent public exhibit." > That facility would also be used to help evaluate newly-arrived sloths, and help them acclimate, the report said. > Under Florida statute, Sloth World had no obligation to report the deaths. However, during a routine, unannounced inspection in August 2025, the FWC investigators inquired about the previous sloth deaths, which were reported between December 2024 and February 2025, the report said. > According to FWC's report, 21 sloths died shortly after arriving in December 2024. Another 10 sloths, shipped from Peru in February 2025, also died. > Among the December group, 21 sloths died from "cold stun." > A previous co-owner told FWC, according to the report, that the warehouse was not ready for the incoming sloths, but said it was too late to cancel the shipment. That co-owner alleged that the building did not have running water or electricity for a time. > He then alleged that space heaters were purchased and powered via extension cord from another nearby building, but at some point, the fuse tripped, leaving the sloths without heat for at least one night, the report said. > On Dec. 22, the coldest recorded temperature was 46 degrees, though the average for the day was 56, the report said. > Among the February 2025 shipment in Peru, two sloths were dead on arrival. The remaining eight sloths "appeared emaciated and in very poor health" – and later died, FWC's report said. > FOX 35's Hannah Mackenzie talked with one of Sloth World Orlando's former co-owners. He is listed in FWC's report, but is no longer associated with the venture, FOX 35 has learned. > He declined an on-camera interview, but over the phone, he challenged FWC's report. He alleged the sloths died from a virus. > He sent FOX 35 the following statement: > "Recently, our facility has been managing a difficult situation involving a foreign virus. We have worked tirelessly alongside our veterinarian, the Florida Department of Agriculture, and other outside experts to successfully identify the virus and address it. > We are aware of rumors such as claiming that our sloths were 'cold-stunned' or left without water and electricity. These claims are entirely false. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) conducted a thorough inspection of our facility just last week, found absolutely no wrongdoings, and fully renewed our license. > We have always prioritized the health and well-being of our animals, investing millions into their care and habitats. We remain deeply committed to the continued care, safety, and health of our sloth population." > FWC investigation found no ‘intentional mal conduct' in sloth deaths; closed investigation without citations, fines, or permit revocations > According to the FWC, no one associated with Sloth World Orlando was cited or issued any violations related to the sloth deaths. > When asked why 31 dead animals in a warehouse didn’t constitute any kind of reprimand or permit revocation, FWC replied because there was "no intentional mal conduct or demonstration of inability/unwillingness to comply with captive wildlife rules." > According to the FWC's Captive Wildlife Report, investigators conducted an announced, routine inspection at the warehouse facility in August 2025. > During that inspection, there were six sloths at the facility – believed to be three males and three females. Four were in one cage, while two were in two separate cages. > "These cages are made of metal framing and chain-link fabric and are sitting atop wooden framing to raise the roof height above the floor. Shade cloth on the chain-link is installed to provide the sloths with a sense of seclusion. There are several pieces of bamboo strung throughout each cage to provide for climbing and movement. Elevated cloth perches and nesting dens in the form of large buckets are provided. > Several stainless steel, water bowls are provided in each cage. Leafy vegetation, like Kale, was observed to be hung from the ceiling. The vegetation is also misted with water to provide the sloths with alternative opportunities to drink water," the FWC investigator stated in the report. > According to the report, FWC found a couple of issues with the sizing of two sloth cages, as well as reporting errors, resulting in a verbal warning: > Two sloths were found to each be housed in a metal cage that measured 33" X 22 ½" X 4’7.5", which does not meet the 4' x 6' x 8' requirement, the report said. > Animals can be temporarily caged in small enclosures when held for sale or under veterinary care, though the animal cannot be housed there longer than 60 days, the report said. The enclosure cannot prevent the animal from standing up, lying down, or turning around without touching the sides of the cage. > When caged, facilities have to permanently mark the enclosure and keep traceable written records of the date the animal was placed in such housing. > "It was noted that neither the animal nor the cage was marked and traceable to written records that indicated when these sloths were placed within these smaller cages. In these two instances, the sloths were in cages that did not meet captive wildlife requirements and the marking/labeling of the animal or the cage had not been done in compliance with the exception to standard caging of FAC 68A-6.013. A verbal warning for this captive wildlife discrepancy was issued," the FWC report said. > The ideal temperature for sloths is between 81 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, said Dr. Rebecca Cliffe, founder and director of The Sloth Conservation Foundation in Costa Rica. She has been publicly against the project. > "Sloths can't regulate their body temperature like a lot of mammals can," said Dr. Cliffe. "So they completely depend on the environmental temperature for maintaining their internal temperature." > "As soon as sloths get too cold their core temperature drops, what happens is they have special bacteria that live in their stomach that they use to digest the food they eat, and if they get too cold all those bacteria die and then they can't digest anything," she said. > "So even if you heat them back up again, they can't survive." > Sloth World Orlando describes itself on its website as "the world's only ‘slotharium.’" > "Sloth World was created to provide sloths with a protected, research-informed habitat designed around their natural needs. Here, guests learn through quiet observation, guided by caretakers who support daily sloth care," reads its website. > It was initially expected to open on March 1. However, that date has passed. > Florida Representative Anna Eskamani has publicly called for answers from FWC. Eskamani said there are major gaps in Florida’s permitting process for possessing wild animals that need to be addressed and corrected.

An update from the same news crew: [https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/sloth-world-orlando-i-drive-facility-not-permitted-sloths-stop-work-order-issued?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExMW5YQWdqRHJYajg3QnVXRnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR6ntBXTWd0fG0X5tRV9DClujEyhzXJYveSyf6caX8O4Hu0oIu\_IpIjscfBmoA\_aem\_d1MjiwIFPLuhzcuUAUTraw](https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/sloth-world-orlando-i-drive-facility-not-permitted-sloths-stop-work-order-issued?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExMW5YQWdqRHJYajg3QnVXRnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR6ntBXTWd0fG0X5tRV9DClujEyhzXJYveSyf6caX8O4Hu0oIu_IpIjscfBmoA_aem_d1MjiwIFPLuhzcuUAUTraw) THE WAREHOUSE WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO HAVE LIVING THINGS IN IT IN THE FIRST PLACE! IT WAS ONLY EVER PERMITTED TO STORE CARS.

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Why don't we just leave the sloths in their natural habitats. This is disgusting. Poor things.

Florida is a cesspool for animal welfare.

Of course its florida, animal abuse hq of the world i guess.

We don’t need a sloth-world. We need a world with sloths. F*** Florida.

Very sad. I'm a huge animal lover...... my heart hurts. Such a lack of accountability in this country when it comes to zoos and the supposed storage locations, even sanctuaries. Profits over people and profits over animals- that's all they care about really.

Had a buddy who worked there the sloths were dieing all the time from various things not just that cold night. The keepers themselves were doing everything they could to help the sloths but everything was so horribly mismanaged from the owners and then once the co owner had a disagreement with the other co owner and left everything went down hill to the article where everything exploded and they are shutting down completely. To also add they now has to take them to small claims court to get his wages as they have refused to pay him. F*** Sloth World

Weird. It seems almost like treating animals as a commodity is the wrong thing to do?

I don’t think sloths are supposed to be warehoused.

I hope this place gets shut down. All those animal facilities need to go.

Leave the f****** sloths alone where they are from.

Why can’t we just leave wild animals the f*** alone?

Animal abuse, they should be arrested but they dont even lockup people for killing their babies or black teenagers in Florida

Sloth World?? FFS, what is this? Unnecessary. This is a money grab. Like it's supposed to be for the benefit of sloth preservation. Shut it down.

That’s pretty dam brutal and sloth sanctuary’s worldwide must be raging

I’m so sick of evil rotten people not being held accountable. That’s animal cruelty, torture, exploitation and Death- send their asses to jail, shut these places down.

Poor animals. Just leave them all alone. Our treatment of animals is really disgusting

Terribly awful. Start listing bad reviews in google. This business should have never been approved to open. These poor animals.

Kristen Bell is gonna go on a rampage

F*** these people! Animal lovers should be outraged. I absolutely hate stories like this but I’m glad it’s being reported on so these “businesses” can get what they deserve.

You can go to the Google Maps page for Sloth World Orlando and 'heart' the one-star reviews. There's also a 5-star review that claims to have visited on a public holiday, even though the place hasn't opened for business yet. You can report that 5-star review as "Fake or Deceptive" for fake activity.

Damn my wife loves sloths, I will NOT be showing her this

I hate the American A****** that thought this was a great idea. F*** them.

So dying from a virus after being taken from the wild for commercial entertainment purposes is a more acceptable excuse for their deaths? Jesus H Christ.

Private zoos are never good and usually woefully inadequate. The only decently run one Ive ever seen stuck with reptiles. Ive seen a few santuaries for reptiles and turtles on youtube but they all have a breeding component which arguably is to provide suitable captive bred animals for the pet trade to relieve pressure on smuggled species but it still has an ick factor for me to breed animals that you have no control of their future lives. Its hard to believe this business would have ever been commercially viable and seems like a wierd throwback to the tiny tourist trap by the highway "zoos" from decades ago.

the thing i hate most about this place is all their messaging is about conserving sloths and breeding for conservation blah blah but they paid wildlife traffickers to steal all of these adult sloths. literal kidnapping + torture + death combo. the populations struggle enough now 30 healthy adults have been stolen by these absolute fucknuts

I remember when the Panda at the Tennesee zoo was all malnourished and was taken back in China and nows its healthy. America doesnt know how to keep animals safe.

*Sea World Exec: "They won't let us torture and kill dolphins, seals, and killer whales anymore. Then what are we left with, sloths!?!?!"* *Sloth World Exec: "Welcome to Sloth World!"*

If anyone needed any more reason to hate Florida, here you go.

If the warehouse wasn't ready THEN DONT GET THE F****** ANIMALS. What the f*** is with sick fucks pretending money is worth more than a living things life. F****** christ

Let's make money off of caged tortured animals said no remotely decent human being ever. F*** all of this and all of THEM so much.

Oh nooooo this makes me so sad. They're such gentle, adorably slow creatures. This hurts my heart. Everyone needs to take responsibility for this. And then spend a night in 46 degree weather with just the shirt on their backs.

JFC can we just leave innocent animals alone? Just leave them where they belong! None of this c*** should be legal.

They turned off the ability to leave reviews on Google maps. This place should lose their licenses for severe animal cruelty and negligent death of 31 sloths. Space heaters and extension cords?! Come on!

I'm sure people knowing that the cute animals they wanna see died because of "bad shipment" will not help make the place a "wholesome experience"

I hope someday the sloths take over the world and put the animal exploiters from Florida into a cold warehouse.

you know where Sloth World could be? THEIR ACTUAL F****** HABITATS

Gross negligence. The owners could have rented generators as power supply for heaters. It would have taken 10 minutes to go on the internet and look up emergency generators, or emergency heating. Sunbelt rentals or any number of equipment rentals, then call. These are emergency equipment rental companies. It’s their job. These people just didn’t want to spend the money, are dumb as a box or rocks, just straight up didn’t care, or all three. Poor sloths!!

So, these people are going to jail right ?

I’ve had aquatic plants shipped with more consideration and care

Im f****** pissed. Sloths are amazing

I’m glad I never visited that place. Screw companies that abuse animals/people for money.

"Under Florida statute, Sloth World had no obligation to report the deaths." Whelp, I reckn therzyer problem right tharr.

I looked up that location. It's a tourist-trap shithole. This is never going to be good for the animals.

Hey everybody please boycott this place! Support animal welfare laws that try to regulate them as well. If they ever open,review bomb them as well. I predict some kind of awful Tiger King situation is going to come out of this.

Why is Florida such an enormous f****** shithole?

F*** people who do this. This is absolutely vile and people should be charged.

Heartbreaking. Leave animals in their habitats where they belong, god damn.

Wait till they hear about the Orcas at SeaWorld.

It's almost like warehouses aren't designed for the survival of sloths. Or ice victims.

Boycott captivity Places like this and SeaWorld are a menace

Humanity can be such a plague.

That's horrible and horrific.

Why the actual f*** are we importing sloths? This idea is madness to begin with. Keep them where they naturally are or at least somewhat close to there. There is just no need for this. Yes, sloths are cute, but I'd rather know they are where they belong and thriving vs this f****** disgusting exhibit

When i was fresh out of college and desperate for a job I worked for a live coral import company. I thought coral was just colorful rocks before I started working there. The amount of coral that dies during the shipping process alone is just terrible…all for a bunch of typically rich, egotistical guys who want to play God. Don’t get me started on fish, thankfully we didn’t really do business in that space. There are certain fish who are extremely hard to domesticate and keep alive. Most of the time they die trying to domesticate them but yet they still try…because if they can do it it strokes their ego. “Look at me, I got a gem tang to survive in my fish tank!” Then you have the crabs, etc which are byproducts of the shipping and are normally killed because they eat the coral. My takeaway from my time there is that we 100% need to end the harvesting and trade of live coral. I don’t believe for 1 second that it is being done in a sustainable way. And even if it were, I find it immoral. Human beings are truly a plague to this planet.

Greed & Politics & People who claim to love Wildlife = Dead Sloths

This is why accreditation matters. We need strong laws prevents random smucks from collecting what wild animal they want.

These types of animal exhibits should be federally banned. People can go to Peru if they really need to see sloths.

I know lots of animals are being abused right now as I type but reading this is still depressing asf. Guess I'll have to go hug my furry buddies if they let me lol.

Imagine being sent to sloth Auschwitz.

Don’t support these kind of places.

Why is there even a Sloth World? Sloths have their own lives in nature. 

This makes me very sad. Unnecessary deaths for human entertainment. They’re sweet animals and this is despicable in every way.

31 sloths is enough sloths that I would pause confronting a "one human vs 31 sloths" Trolley problem. If the human was the head of Sloth World Orlando that pause would be shorter.

F****** disgusting. I’m so glad I got out of trash hole Florida. Disgusting trash humans.

I could have taken better care of them in my apartment in Canada. Disgraceful.

They also have 38 more sloths on the way to replace the dead ones.

I hope their business never takes off and we should never let them forgot what they’ve done. My heart breaks for these poor innocent animals who died for nothing.

The whole time I’m reading this article I am wondering 31 out of how many? Hundreds?  They have six left and two of them were in tiny cages. Well then. 

Nobody tell Kristin Bell. She’ll have a stroke

This should never ever open 

>Under Florida statute, Sloth World had no obligation to report the deaths WTH, why?

I maintain that the vast majority of zoos should not exist. Some zoos are great, conservation and animal welfare are top of their priorities, most other zoos are just exploiting wild animals to enrich themselves.

Put these people in jail and someone please rescue these remaining sloths! Despicable!!!

I have many questions and I am confident that I do not wish to know the answer to any of them.

How about literally any regulations in this country please.

future generations will hate us for allowing private profit zoos to exist

See killing animals is actually endearing for FWC. It probably had them all bricked up with the sloth group. Remember when FWC bolt gunned a legal pregnant snake on accident cause they couldn't be bothered to make sure they identified the correct snakes before they killed them. Oh yea. while needlessly killing a dozen more. I remember. Pepperidge Farms remembers.

Everything about this is pathetic levels of callous evil. The shipping, the choice of warehouse, the ownership plans, the fact that money was apparently sunk into importing animals but nothing for actually keeping them alive, the regulations being fine with it … This is an awful joke.

This is so irresponsible as is planning to put them on display. It should be illegal.

Nooooooooo! This is absolutely so horrible, I am infuriated and heartbroken!

Put all these sorts of greedy, horrible places out of business by never going to them. We should stop going to see exotic animals, unless they are at the few zoos in the world that do it correctly.

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I have nothing but contempt for the mother fuckers who are responsible for this.

Of course it’s Florida.

There’s a sloth world?

2 toed sloths die of stress. The animal rehabilitation place I went to doesn’t even have them near visitors.

This is honestly heartbreaking.

If they can’t meet basic care standards, they shouldn’t be housing animals at all. This isn’t a one-off, it’s a system problem.

Website is straight cancer, do not click.

When a lawyer says there was no "malicious" conduct it's because they can't legally say there was no "negligent" conduct.

Genuienly heart breaking

It sounds like someone opening a business without proper funding. He was hoping to open the business in March so he would have revenue. Hope led to disaster. Running an extension cord from another building is weird. It would have to be a very stout extension cord. Multiple space heaters can overload a circuit breaker. Most space heaters are 1500 watts.

Sometimes it just seems like humans are not deserving of the extraordinary animals and nature this earth contains.

wtf. Evil f****** people. Sloths are awesome

Is there someone I can write to convince that this disgusting animal abuse center disguised as a tourist attraction shouldn’t open?

The real tragedy here is that this was completely preventable and yet somehow totally legal. No running water or electricity in a Florida warehouse for tropical animals, and the state's response is basically "well, they didn't mean to." It's maddening that these places can order live animals from other countries with zero accountability, and then just get a verbal warning when everything goes wrong. We need way stricter oversight on exotic animal exhibits, because clearly these businesses cannot be trusted to self-regulate.

This is ok in Florida

Why are sloths in a warehouse?

Let's get that hovering 2.7 Google rating down lower folks, I've got faith in us.

> The FWC conducted and closed its investigation, finding that there was no intentional mal conduct by the business. > A previous co-owner told FWC, according to the report, that the warehouse was not ready for the incoming sloths, but said it was too late to cancel the shipment. **That co-owner alleged that the building did not have running water or electricity for a time.** No mal conduct but put a bunch of animals in a warehouse without heating or water. It's not like anyone forced them to order the sloths that early.