{"id":245084,"date":"2026-04-24T17:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245084\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:59:14","slug":"orlando-sloth-world-31-dead-sloths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245084\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando: Sloth World 31 dead sloths"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A state report obtained by Channel 9 details the deaths of 31 sloths meant for Orlando\u2019s new \u201cSloth World\u201d attraction.<\/p>\n

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report details how many of the deaths were tied to preventable conditions inside a holding facility.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sloth World in Orlando A state report obtained by Channel 9 details the deaths of 31 sloths meant for Orlando\u2019s new \u201cSloth World\u201d attraction. (WFTV staff)<\/p>\n

Despite those findings, emails between FWC officials and a state lawmaker show Sloth World is still hoping to open as early as mid-May.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sloth World in Orlando A state report obtained by Channel 9 details the deaths of 31 sloths meant for Orlando\u2019s new \u201cSloth World\u201d attraction. (WFTV staff)<\/p>\n

Some families who already bought tickets say they are now asking for refunds.<\/p>\n

Lisa Mark surprised her 11-year-old son, Brendan, with tickets to Sloth World for his birthday in March.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sloth World investigation Lisa Mark surprised her 11-year-old son, Brendan, with tickets to Sloth World for his birthday in March. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe just loves sloths,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n

But after learning about the deaths and the FWC violation, Mark said she quickly changed her mind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sloth World investigation Lisa Mark surprised her 11-year-old son, Brendan, with tickets to Sloth World for his birthday in March. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our money back,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t take my son to this. He would be upset to know the truth of what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the seven-page FWC report, Peter Bandre told investigators he ordered 21 sloths from Guyana, but the warehouse had no water or electricity when they arrived in December 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sloth World in Orlando A state report obtained by Channel 9 details the deaths of 31 sloths meant for Orlando\u2019s new \u201cSloth World\u201d attraction. (WFTV staff)<\/p>\n

Bandre told officials all 21 died from what he called a \u201ccold stun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report says 10 more sloths from Peru arrived about two months later. Bandre told FWC officials two were dead when they arrived, and the remaining eight were in poor health and later died.<\/p>\n

When FWC inspected the warehouse, officials cited Bandre for keeping the remaining sloths in cages that were too small under Florida requirements.<\/p>\n

FWC conducted a surprise inspection of the facility this week and found no violations and the sloths were in good health, according to emails between FWC officials and a lawmaker.<\/p>\n

However, on Thursday, Orange County issued a \u201cstop work\u201d order for Sloth World\u2019s warehouse where the sloths are being held.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sloth World in Orlando A state report obtained by Channel 9 details the deaths of 31 sloths meant for Orlando\u2019s new \u201cSloth World\u201d attraction. <\/p>\n

WFTV has reached out to Orange County for more information on why this happened and if Sloth World had obtained any work permits.<\/p>\n

Channel 9 tried to reach Bandre several times Thursday by phone, text, and in person at Sloth World, but he did not respond.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A state report obtained by Channel 9 details the deaths of 31 sloths meant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[13604,23731,107940,107936,1060,2777,13139,28,107938,4747,107941,107934,107935,634,115,139,141,140,107939,23002,44632,107937,3435,1045,1740],"class_list":{"0":"post-245084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-ashlyn_webb","9":"tag-ashton_webb","10":"tag-bondre","11":"tag-brendan","12":"tag-channel_9","13":"tag-channel_nine","14":"tag-eyewitness_news","15":"tag-florida","16":"tag-florida_fish_and_wildlife","17":"tag-fwc","18":"tag-guyana","19":"tag-international_drive","20":"tag-lisa_mark","21":"tag-local","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-orlando","24":"tag-orlando-headlines","25":"tag-orlando-news","26":"tag-peter_bondre","27":"tag-resort","28":"tag-sloth","29":"tag-sloth_world","30":"tag-universal","31":"tag-video","32":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}