{"id":210697,"date":"2026-05-14T22:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T22:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/florida-suspends-imports-of-sloths-following-sloth-world-controversy-florida-today\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T22:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T22:19:11","slug":"florida-suspends-imports-of-sloths-following-sloth-world-controversy-florida-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/florida-suspends-imports-of-sloths-following-sloth-world-controversy-florida-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida suspends imports of sloths following Sloth World controversy – Florida Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/a> issued an executive order to suspend imports of sloths from foreign points of entry for 60 days following the deaths of dozens of sloths<\/a>.
Orlando’s\u00a0Sloth World<\/a>, touted as the \u201cworld\u2019s first Slotharium,\u201d shut down ahead of its planned opening after news broke that over 50 sloths died while in its care or while en route to its facility.
The attraction marketed itself as conservation-focused, with the website archives stating that its tickets “directly fund rescue work in South America, supplies for local rehab centers, and scientific studies that help the world better understand sloth health and behavior.”
Fifty-five sloths have died so far, and ten surviving sloths are getting care at a local zoo.\u00a0
According to My New 13, FWC\u00a0says it will work with representatives, stakeholders and wildlife officials to examine the rules and regulations<\/a> under the Class III licenses, which regulate the possession, sale and exhibition of a broad category of animals that are not domestic, including sloths.
Sloth World was located along Orlando’s popular International Drive.
It\u2019s unclear when the Sloth World was slated to open, with archives of its website stating it would open sometime during 2026. As of April 27, its\u00a0website was defunct<\/a>, with all information removed.
An August 2025\u00a0Captive Wildlife Report\u00a0<\/a>by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that a total of 31 sloths died, including 21 from Guyana, that a former Sloth World operator said suffered from \u201ccold stun.\u201d
Of 10 other sloths that came from Peru, two were dead on arrival, and eight were emaciated. They eventually died because of \u201cpoor health conditions,\u201d according to the report.
Earlier this month, it was reported that an additional 21 sloths had died. Click Orlando<\/a> shared that an additional report from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services revealed many of these sloths died from gastrointestinal or stomach-related issues.
The 13 remaining sloths were placed in the care of animal experts at\u00a0Central Florida Zoo & Biological Gardens<\/a> in Sanford, according to a\u00a0press release.<\/a> However, three sloths that were in critical condition have since died.
Sloth Conservation Foundation\u00a0has said the surviving sloths can never be released back into the wild and now require a lifetime in human care at accredited Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) facilities.
Samantha Neely is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, theme parks, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida\u2019s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at\u00a0https:\/\/floridatoday.com\/newsletters<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an executive order to suspend imports of sloths from foreign points of entry for 60 days following the deaths of dozens of sloths.Orlando’s\u00a0Sloth World, touted as the \u201cworld\u2019s first Slotharium,\u201d shut down ahead of its planned opening after news broke that over 50 sloths died while in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}