Bandit the sloth was between the ages of one and two years old when he died. It\u2019s not clear exactly how old Habanero was. Determining sloths\u2019 age and gender can be quite difficult, zoo CEO Richard Glover said in an interview with Central Florida Public Media Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can estimate on a lot of them, but once they hit adulthood, the estimation is really just: they’re an adult,\u201d Glover said. \u201cThe records that we were given, it’s not clear. And of course, these animals were taken, most of them, from the wild, and so they probably don’t have any idea how old they were when they took them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florida is a hotspot for exotic animal trade, and a gateway for a majority of wild-caught sloths imported to the United States.<\/p>\n
More than 1,100 wild-caught sloths entered the country between 2011 to 2021, according to research<\/a> published late last year by The Sloth Institute. Of 417 live sloth shipments analyzed by the nonprofit institute, more than 98% came through the port of Miami.<\/p>\n Courtesy Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens<\/p>\n Habanero the sloth died Saturday night.<\/p>\n The nonprofit zoo\u2019s veterinary and animal care teams are monitoring all 11 remaining sloths closely and providing them with ongoing medical attention.<\/p>\n Two of the animals are currently in \u201cguarded\u201d condition, including a roughly three-month-old baby sloth. Vets are keeping an extra-close eye on those two sloths in \u201cguarded\u201d condition, which is a less severe status than \u201ccritical,\u201d according to a spokesperson for the zoo.<\/p>\n The baby sloth is stable and eating well, but experiencing gastrointestinal issues. Those kinds of issues can create major challenges for the delicate animal species.<\/p>\n \u201cSloths have incredibly slow metabolisms, so they’re very slow to digest and then eventually expel anything from their body,\u201d Glover said. \u201cSo it takes a lot of time, if they have a problem in their digestive system, to try to correct it.\u201d<\/p>\n The sloths arrived at the zoo April 24 with \u201cquite a few things wrong with them,\u201d Glover said, namely dehydration, diarrhea and mineral deficiencies.<\/p>\n The zoo is still awaiting Bandit\u2019s necropsy results, which are expected to come in early this week. When they do, it\u2019s possible the results could help shed light on how to help the other 11 sloths.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s kind of the hope: is, if there was anything there that is maybe a communicable disease, or something that we didn’t know they have, that that would be the thing to tell us,\u201d Glover said Friday. \u201cThat would also mean that Bandit dying actually could help save some of the others.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many sick or injured animals, sloths will often mask their symptoms up until the bitter end. It\u2019s a survival instinct: in the wild, showing any signs of distress for predators to pick up on could be a \u201cdeath sentence\u201d for the sloths, Glover said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re basically detectives, trying to figure out what\u2019s wrong with them. \u2026 It takes a lot of different factors to really determine what\u2019s going on,\u201d Glover said. \u201cIt’s a process of elimination, just like it is in humans a lot of times, but without the ability to ask them anything.\u201d<\/p>\n One strategy that may help determine how to help the 11 remaining sloths arrived at the zoo in the form of a unique shipment this week. The Los Angeles Zoo sent over a set of fecal samples from healthy sloths, to be introduced into the diet of the sloths here in Central Florida. The treatment is known as a fecal microbiota transplant, or FMT.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it may sound unusual, this treatment is grounded in science and can make a meaningful difference for sloths with sensitive digestive systems,\u201d according to the zoo.<\/p>\n The zoo is posting updates on the sloths\u2019 condition to a page on its website<\/a>, where it\u2019s also soliciting donations to help with the cost of medical care.<\/p>\n \u201cThis latest loss is gut-wrenching, but the focus remains on the 11 remaining sloths, and each day with them is a gift,\u201d according to the zoo.<\/p>\n![\"Habanero](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777835356_350_.jpeg\"\/)
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