\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLegal action has been announced against Sloth World in Orlando, where wildlife officials found dozens of the exotic animals had died at a warehouse before the attraction was to set open.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said 31 sloths died at the warehouse before the rest were given to the Central Florida Zoo. Despite the zoo’s efforts, one of the 13 they took in died on Wednesday. LawsuitsThe founder of an international organization that aims to protect sloths is getting ready to file legal action against Sloth World owner Ben Agresta.Dr. Rebecca Cliffe, founder and executive director of the Sloth Conservation Foundation, said she had no idea “just how dark and awful this place was.” She says she’s been following the heartbreaking updates for months.”I reached out to them in January and asked them about what was their plan, and where did their sloths come from, and how were they going to support conservation,” she told WESH 2. “And to their credit, I got an email back quite quickly.”Cliffe said she was told the sloths came from the wild and that Sloth World planned to donate over a million dollars to conservation.”It was really shocking to me that anyone would try and take that number of sloths out the wild and justify it as conservation. So I asked them, how many sloths they still had? How many were alive?” she said. “And that’s when they stopped, stopped communicating with us.”Launched in 2017, Cliffe’s international nonprofit leads conservation programs in the rainforests of Costa Rica.By the time they found out what was happening at Sloth World, it was too late. “It’s tragic. Every single way you look at this is tragic,” she said. An August 2025 unannounced routine inspection of the warehouse holding the sloths cited 31 sloths died after being cold-stunned.And Wednesday’s news of another death isn’t the last one Cliffe is expecting. “Once they lose the flora living in the stomach, then they can’t really get it back. You know that you can warm them back up, but the damage is done,” Cliffe said. Cliffe added that the organization is aggressively pursuing legal action, and she’s urging everyone to stay passionate about the fallout.”We are going to hold them accountable. We are going to pursue legal action, and we’re going to make sure that this never can happen again to any more sloths,” she said. Ultimately the Sloth Conservation Foundation is pushing to ban any imports of wild-caught sloths into the United States.PETA has also announced a lawsuit.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Legal action has been announced against Sloth World in Orlando, where wildlife officials found dozens of the exotic animals had died at a warehouse before the attraction was to set open.<\/p>\n
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said 31 sloths died at the warehouse before the rest were given to the Central Florida Zoo. Despite the zoo’s efforts, one of the 13 they took in died on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Lawsuits<\/p>\n
The founder of an international organization that aims to protect sloths is getting ready to file legal action against Sloth World owner Ben Agresta.<\/p>\n
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe, founder and executive director of the Sloth Conservation Foundation, said she had no idea “just how dark and awful this place was.” <\/p>\n
She says she’s been following the heartbreaking updates for months.<\/p>\n
“I reached out to them in January and asked them about what was their plan, and where did their sloths come from, and how were they going to support conservation,” she told WESH 2. “And to their credit, I got an email back quite quickly.”<\/p>\n
Cliffe said she was told the sloths came from the wild and that Sloth World planned to donate over a million dollars to conservation.<\/p>\n
“It was really shocking to me that anyone would try and take that number of sloths out the wild and justify it as conservation. So I asked them, how many sloths they still had? How many were alive?” she said. “And that’s when they stopped, stopped communicating with us.”<\/p>\n
Launched in 2017, Cliffe’s international nonprofit leads conservation programs in the rainforests of Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
By the time they found out what was happening at Sloth World, it was too late. <\/p>\n
“It’s tragic. Every single way you look at this is tragic,” she said. <\/p>\n
An August 2025 unannounced routine inspection of the warehouse holding the sloths cited 31 sloths died after being cold-stunned.<\/p>\n
And Wednesday’s news of another death isn’t the last one Cliffe is expecting. <\/p>\n
“Once they lose the flora living in the stomach, then they can’t really get it back. You know that you can warm them back up, but the damage is done,” Cliffe said. <\/p>\n
Cliffe added that the organization is aggressively pursuing legal action, and she’s urging everyone to stay passionate about the fallout.<\/p>\n
“We are going to hold them accountable. We are going to pursue legal action, and we’re going to make sure that this never can happen again to any more sloths,” she said. <\/p>\n
Ultimately the Sloth Conservation Foundation is pushing to ban any imports of wild-caught sloths into the United States.<\/p>\n