Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said Thursday that he was appalled by a report about the death of 31 sloths that died under the care of Sloth World, a tourist attraction in Orlando, Fla., that wasn\u2019t yet opened to the public.<\/p>\n
The sloths were from South American rainforests and perished in storage warehouses between December 2024 and February 2025, according to an incident report<\/a> by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cThese sloths \u2014 naturally solitary animals \u2014 were put in the worst conditions possible,\u201d Frost said in a Thursday post<\/a> on social platform X. \u201cThey were taken from their natural habitats to a packed warehouse that wasn\u2019t properly heated and allowed for the spread of deadly viruses, leading to a stress-induced death.\u201d<\/p>\n The incident report stated that the facility\u2019s owner at the time, Peter Bandre, told inspectors that 21 of the sloths from Guyana died from a \u201ccold stun.\u201d This happened because the warehouse was not ready to receive the sloths during December\u2019s cold. The warehouse also had no water or electricity and relied on heaters powered by an extension cord from a neighboring building.<\/p>\n The facility\u2019s then-owner said in the report that the building was not ready to receive the sloths, but it was too late to cancel shipment.<\/p>\n The other 10 sloths arrived from Peru four days after the first batch, with two sloths dead on arrival. The others died from poor health issues after appearing emaciated.<\/p>\n Frost said he was looking into the tragedy and would coordinate with local officials to determine how to best move forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve called on the Secretary of Agriculture and USDA to investigate Sloth World, protect any surviving sloths, and prevent more from being brought in,\u201d Frost said in a follow-up X post<\/a> Friday. \u201cWe cannot allow this to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n Sloth World said it had been \u201cmanaging a difficult situation regarding a foreign virus\u201d and has worked tirelessly to address it, alongside their veterinarian, the Florida Department of Agriculture and other outside experts, according to a statement to central Florida\u2019s Fox 35 on Monday.<\/p>\n