{"id":267888,"date":"2026-05-12T11:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/267888\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:54:07","slug":"fwc-to-form-task-force-following-sloth-deaths-tied-to-sloth-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/267888\/","title":{"rendered":"FWC to form task force following sloth deaths tied to Sloth World"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is forming a task force to overhaul exotic animal permit rules following the deaths of 55 sloths connected to the now-bankrupt Sloth World <\/a>facility in Orlando.<\/p>\n

The task force commitment came after state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) met with FWC officials, The Sloth Institute, and the Sloth Conservation Foundation. <\/p>\n

Eskamani said the agency has agreed to pursue rulemaking changes before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty-five sloths are dead,\u201d Eskamani said in a statement. \u201cWild sloths \u2014 animals that belonged in the rainforest \u2014 were brought into Florida and exploited for profit until the business that exploited them collapsed. That cannot be the end of this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newly obtained records<\/a> from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show 21 additional sloths died while under Sloth World\u2019s care, bringing the total known death toll to 55. The 178 pages of documents include necropsy reports. Previously obtained FWC records had documented the deaths of 31 sloths.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rebecca Cliffe, founder of the Sloth Conservation Foundation, said conditions at the facility made survival impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2024, 21 sloths were brought here from Guyana, and they were placed in an unprepared warehouse in a parking lot with no electricity, no climate control, and no running water,\u201d Cliffe said. \u201cWithin a matter of days, all 21 of those sloths were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eskamani is pushing for several specific policy changes:<\/p>\n

Require permit holders to immediately report any animal death or illness<\/p>\n

Tighten Florida\u2019s animal abuse statute<\/p>\n

Increase legal oversight of exotic animal care<\/p>\n

FWC previously said it found no evidence of violations \u2014 a position Eskamani called unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Criminal investigation continues<\/p>\n

A criminal probe into Sloth World remains active with the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office assisting. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is working with Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell to determine whether criminal charges can be filed against Sloth World\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n

[WATCH<\/a>: Shirt sales support rescued Sloth World sloths]<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Sanford said a third sloth \u2014 named Dumpling<\/a> \u2014 died in its care. The zoo received 13 sloths from Sloth World on April 24. Ten remain in the zoo\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers are also calling for a federal ban on importing wild-caught sloths for commercial purposes and private ownership.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is forming a task force to overhaul exotic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1684,2405,28,30,29,10749,1335,44635,2411],"class_list":["post-267888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-animals","tag-attractions","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-international-drive","tag-orange-county","tag-sloth-world","tag-theme-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267888","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=267888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}