{"id":257638,"date":"2026-05-04T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/257638\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:27:08","slug":"habanero-latest-animal-to-die-from-would-be-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/257638\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Habanero\u2019 latest animal to die from would-be attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Another sloth joins the dozens who have died ahead of the opening of Sloth World in Orlando.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Sloth World was supposed to open as an attraction on International Drive. That is not happening now, after it was learned that 31 sloths intended for the attraction had died between December of 2024 and February of last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to the Central Florida Zoo, Habanero, died over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Thirteen other sloths meant for the attraction, including Habanero, were transferred to the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford. Doctors say the animals were in various states of dehydration and malnutrition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Habanero was one of the sloths identified as most vulnerable when the sloths were taken as a donation from Sloth World, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CentralFloridaZoo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CentralFloridaZoo\/\">the zoo posted on social media<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">While their team saw some early signs of progress after treatment, Habanero began rapidly deteriorating Thursday afternoon and he was humanely euthanized on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Another one of those animals, a three-month-old baby named Bandit, died last week, the zoo reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">On Friday, News 6 reported that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/theme-parks\/2026\/05\/01\/florida-looking-into-criminal-investigation-for-orlando-sloth-world-deaths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/theme-parks\/2026\/05\/01\/florida-looking-into-criminal-investigation-for-orlando-sloth-world-deaths\/\">Florida prosecutors are looking into whether criminal charges are possible.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Attorney General James Uthmeier responded to a call for a criminal investigation from State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. According to Uthmeier, it will be up to Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell to determine if any criminal charges can be brought against Sloth World\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Uthmeier said Lauryn Day, a senior assistant statewide prosecutor and animal welfare law expert, is working with Worrell\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cOur office is unwavering in its commitment to pursuing justice on behalf of those who are unable to protect themselves,\u201d Uthmeier wrote to Eskamani. \u201cWe will ensure accountability wherever the evidence requires.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kiwhtN\">Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Another sloth joins the dozens who have died ahead of the opening of Sloth World&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1684,28,1335,139,141,140,44635],"class_list":["post-257638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-animals","tag-florida","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-sloth-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257638","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=257638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}