Thirty-one sloths died shortly after arriving in Florida, according to a report from state wildlife officials. The animals were imported from Peru and Guyana for a planned tourist attraction called Sloth World in Orlando.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found that the sloths were kept in a warehouse where temperatures dropped below 8 degrees Celsius in the week following their arrival on December 18, 2024. Officials said the cold likely caused the deaths, noting that sloths naturally live in habitats where temperatures range between 21 and 30 degrees Celsius.
The owners of Sloth World claimed an undetectable virus was responsible, but wildlife authorities attributed the fatalities to cold shock. All 21 sloths in the first shipment died, and a second group also suffered losses before the project collapsed.
Sloth World has since gone bankrupt, and the surviving sloths were donated to the Central Florida Zoo. The venture had aimed to open what its founders described as the world’s first “slotharium,” a facility where visitors could observe sloths in a simulated natural environment.
The incident highlights the risks involved in transporting tropical animals to climates unsuitable for their survival, particularly when intended for commercial exhibition.
