{"id":246078,"date":"2026-04-25T10:27:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T10:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/246078\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T10:27:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T10:27:28","slug":"after-mass-deaths-at-sloth-world-13-surviving-animals-are-transferred-to-a-florida-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/246078\/","title":{"rendered":"After Mass Deaths at \u2018Sloth World,\u2019 13 Surviving Animals Are Transferred to a Florida Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

A planned Florida animal attraction that imported dozens of wild sloths has sent 13 surviving animals to a local zoo, days after an Inside Climate News investigation<\/a> revealed that more than 31 sloths had died in the company\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

Pressure on Orlando-based Sloth World has mounted over the last week amid public outcry. A member of Congress called for a federal investigation. The company, which had repeatedly delayed its public opening, has now shuttered its website and social media accounts.<\/p>\n

Owner Ben Agresta, who earlier called state records detailing the deaths \u201ccompletely fiction,\u201d did not respond to questions from Inside Climate News about the status of the company or its remaining sloths. But other news<\/a> organizations<\/a> reported Friday that he told them Sloth World will not open.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State records show that Sloth World had imported 69 wild sloths from Guyana and Peru since December 2024. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found that 21 died soon after arriving that month at an industrial building that wasn\u2019t ready for them, and 10 more from the next shipment in February 2025 also died, according to an incident report<\/a> that Inside Climate News obtained through an open-records request.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Necropsy reports showed that deaths continued. A spokesperson for the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens told Inside Climate News that the 13 sloths it accepted from the company are the only survivors.<\/p>\n

The zoo said<\/a> the tropical, tree-dwelling mammals are currently housed in a \u201cspecial off-display habitat area for a quarantine period of at least 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear what the health status of the transferred sloths is. The necropsy records obtained by Inside Climate News show that viruses infected some of Sloth World\u2019s animals, including a \u201cnovel two-toed sloth gammaherpesvirus.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were approached about taking in these sloths, the team all agreed it was something we should and wanted to do,\u201d Richard E. Glover, the zoo\u2019s CEO, said in a statement. \u201cOur Zoo team has decades of experience caring for sloths, and we can ensure they will receive the best care and nutrition to give them the best opportunity for a positive outcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A\"AThe remaining sloths from Sloth World are now under the care of an accredited zoo. Credit: Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens<\/p>\n

The zoo, a 116-acre facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is a nonprofit based in Sanford, Florida. The zoo said in its statement that it will assume ownership of the sloths, at least temporarily, while working to determine long-term placement. Some are expected to stay at the zoo while others \u201cwill be relocated to accredited partner institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scientists and conservation organizations have harshly criticized Sloth World for importing wild sloths for a commercial business. The animals are poorly suited to captivity, internalizing stress, which experts say can suppress their immune systems and allow viruses to take hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ana Mar\u00eda Villada Rosales, a member of the Council of Scientific Authority in Costa Rica and head veterinarian and conservation medicine research manager at a rescue organization called The Sloth Institute, said the necropsy reports done on some of Sloth World\u2019s animals indicate that \u201csystemic stress\u201d acted as a \u201cdefinitive catalyst\u201d for the deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\"A\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\tAt \u2018Sloth World\u2019 in Florida, Wild Sloths Have Died by the Dozens\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\tBy Katie Surma, Kiley Price<\/p>\n

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which gave the company\u2019s import business a verbal warning in August for the small size of some of its cages, told Inside Climate News last week that Sloth World didn\u2019t violate any state regulations.<\/p>\n

On Friday, critics of the company celebrated the news that Sloth World had closedthe transfer. They added that the sloths cannot be returned to the wild because of their compromised health and but said the situation should never have been allowed to go on as long as it did.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere were the laws to protect these animals? Why did Sloth World not have to declare the deaths of the sloths in their care? Why was all of this legally able to happen?\u201d said Rebecca Cliffe, founder of the Sloth Conservation Foundation, in a statement<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers have similar questions. \u201cUnacceptable that this behavior doesn\u2019t lead to criminal charges,\u201d state Rep. Anna Eskamani said in a social-media post<\/a> this week. The Orlando Democrat said she was contacting the state fish and wildlife agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) sent a letter<\/a> to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday, calling on the agency to \u201cprevent further criminal suffering of any sloths still in the attraction\u2019s custody\u201d and asking if officials planned to investigate Sloth World. That evening, Frost posted on social media<\/a> celebrating the company\u2019s alleged shuttering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Demand for sloths\u2014overwhelmingly sourced from the wild\u2014has spiked in recent years, according to government officials in Guyana and Peru. Much of that interest is driven by the pet trade and animal-attraction industry, where tourists pay to pose with the animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSloth World is an egregious example of the damaging effects of the sloth trade on the welfare and conservation of sloths,\u201d said Sam Trull, executive director of The Sloth Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery individual taken from the wild for entertainment is a tragedy,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n

Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n

Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n

Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don\u2019t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places? <\/p>\n

Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKiley Price\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tReporter<\/p>\n

Kiley Price is a reporter at Inside Climate News, with a particular interest in wildlife, ocean health, food systems and climate change. She writes ICN\u2019s \u201cToday\u2019s Climate\u201d newsletter, which covers the most pressing environmental news each week.<\/p>\n

She earned her master\u2019s degree in science journalism at New York University, and her bachelor\u2019s degree in biology at Wake Forest University. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Time, Scientific American and more. She is a former Pulitzer Reporting Fellow, during which she spent a month in Thailand covering the intersection between Buddhism and the country\u2019s environmental movement.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKatie Surma\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tReporter, Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Katie Surma is a reporter at Inside Climate News covering the rights of nature movement and international environmental justice. Her work has a strong focus on the intersection of human rights and the environment. Before joining ICN, she practiced law, specializing in commercial litigation. Her journalism work has been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, the Society of International Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and others. Katie has a master\u2019s degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University\u2019s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, an LLM in international rule of law and security from ASU\u2019s Sandra Day O\u2019Connor College of Law, a J.D. from Duquesne University, and was a History of Art and Architecture major at the University of Pittsburgh. Katie lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

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