31 sloths dead after being shipped to Florida for theme park attraction

Sloth World Orlando describes itself as "the world's only 'slotharium,'" designed to provide a carefully managed environment for sloths while educating guests about their needs.

However, recent findings by Fox 35 Orlando paint a different picture.

In the last several months, the outlet investigated a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which revealed that 31 sloths had died while awaiting relocation to Sloth World. 

Of the total number of sloths, 21 originated from Guyana in December 2024 and were reportedly affected by extreme cold after nearby space heaters malfunctioned.

Additionally, 10 sloths from a February 2025 shipment from Peru died. Two sloths were dead on arrival, and the remaining eight reportedly appeared "emaciated and in very poor health" and later died.

A reporter with Fox 35, Hannah Mackenzie, spoke with one of Sloth World's former co-owners in an attempt to learn more about the incident.

The former co-owner denied any wrongdoing on Sloth World's behalf, stating that the deaths were the result of an unidentified virus.

"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," he told Fox 35.

"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," he asserted.

Despite the disturbing animal deaths, the FWC did not issue any citations or fines to Sloth World because it did not find any evidence of "intentional mal conduct or demonstration of inability/unwillingness to comply with captive wildlife rules."

Still, red flags abound, as the FWC conducted a routine inspection at the Sloth World warehouse facility in August 2025.

They discovered six total sloths at the facility, with four of them being together in one cage. The remaining two sloths were each in a cage of their own.

Only a verbal warning was issued, as the cages did not meet the size requirements for captive wildlife rules.

Dr. Rebecca Cliffe, founder of The Sloth Conservation Foundation in Costa Rica, has been vocal in her opposition to Sloth World and its practices.

"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."

The theme park was initially scheduled to open on March 1 but has since been delayed following reports of the 31 sloth deaths.

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