Sloth World, a planned attraction for Orlando’s International Drive, is under scrutiny for the living conditions of its animals and the deaths of dozens of imported sloths.
The attraction was announced in December as a guided, walk-through tour with an emphasis on conservation and education. It was initially scheduled to begin public tours in February, but is not yet open.
Inspectors for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have collected details about the deaths of 31 sloths imported via Miami International Airport in late 2024 and early 2025. The first 21 were from Guyana and taken into a modified warehouse about a mile south of the attraction’s planned location, which had no electricity or water. All of those sloths ultimately perished there.
The agency detailed the warehouse conditions in a report of an August 2025 routine inspection disclosed this week by Inside Climate News. Some of the information in the report had been provided by Peter Bandre, who — at the time — was vice president of Sloth World and a business partner of Ben Agresta, the attraction’s owner and president. Bandre has since left Sloth World.
Space heaters in the warehouse where the sloths were kept had been installed with power connections from another building, the state report said. A fuse was tripped, and the sloths stayed in the cold building without heat for at least one night, the report said. Bandre said those sloths died due to “a cold stun,” the report said.
Ten more sloths later came from Peru, the report says. Two were dead on arrival, and the other eight eventually died due to poor health issues.
The state wildlife agency said four animals it encountered in its inspection were in cages considered, by law, too small for captive wildlife, and that alternate setups were to be implemented.
The report leaves questions about the future of Sloth World, which Agresta had touted in an interview with the Sentinel late last year.
“What we really wanted to do with Sloth World is actually replicate the rainforest as their home,” Agresta said. “You are in their home, and that’s the most important thing to really remember. There’s no cages, there’s no screens, there’s no enclosures, there’s no hidden rooms and secret passages.”
Neither Agresta nor other Sloth World officials have returned the Sentinel’s calls for comment or interview requests this week.
Critics say the attraction was a bad idea from the beginning.
“I think sloths belong in the wild,” Rebecca Cliffe, executive director of the Sloth Conservation Foundation, told the Sentinel Tuesday. “I understand them being in zoos and the benefit that that can have. … Sloths are a very sensitive species, and they need very specific needs to be met that you know, can’t just be met by anyone.”
Sloth World was designed to be a guided walk-through attraction amid the animals’ re-created natural habitats, officials said in December. (Rendering courtesy Sloth World)
Inside Climate News, a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on environmental reporting, said in its article that a virus has spread through the warehouse since the earlier state inspection, leading to even more deaths. Its reporting also found that Sloth World is not licensed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a requirement to display animals to the public, and that the USDA said Sanctuary World Imports, Sloth World’s related import business, also did not have a USDA license.
A photograph of a row of cages inside Sloth World’s off-site warehouse was included in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captive wildlife report on Aug. 7, 2025. (Courtesy Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
International transport can be problematic, Cliffe said, because sloths cannot regulate their body temperatures well, have very specific diets and get stressed easily.
“They don’t have a fight or flight response. If they’re threatened, they can’t run away, they can’t defend themselves,” Cliffe said. “So what they do is just internalize the stress … they sort of close their eyes, hold on and just hope that everything passes by.”
Most sloth species are not considered endangered, though their populations are dwindling in their native Central and South American countries. Deforestation and urbanization are contributors.
In the December interview with the Sentinel, Agresta said the attraction would emphasize conservation, education, research and “a gentle bit of entertainment value,” but it would not be a place where visitors would hold, touch or feed sloths. He said more than 40 sloths would live in the 7,500-square-foot habitat, and that a gathering of this size would provide a valuable research database.
In a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captive wildlife report on Aug. 7, 2025, inspectors photographed cages that were too small for the sloths contained in them. (Courtesy Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
Sloths can also be seen in attractions such as Orlando Science Center, Central Florida Zoo in Sanford and Amazing Animals Inc. in St. Cloud.
Work continues on the attraction, including new paint and installation of a Sloth World sign. It’s located north of Carrier Drive. An official opening date has not been announced, but the company’s website indicates that construction is 95% complete and that it will be operating “in about 25 days.” Presale VIP tickets were offered for $49 but are listed as sold out on the attraction website.