FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is working to finalize an executive order to temporarily prohibit the importation of sloths into the state of Florida, according to Executive Director Roger Young.
Young made the announcement during an FWC commission meeting in Fort Myers on Wednesday. The announcement comes after 55 sloths connected with the Sloth World attraction in Orlando died.
FWC is working with representatives, stakeholders and wildlife experts to examine the rule regarding Class III, which sloths fall under, Young stated.
“Our captive wildlife team also contacted all other Class II facilities throughout Florida that housed sloths to assess the animals’ health and found no significant issues,” he said.
Young announced all permits related to Sloth World have been relinquished.
“This unfortunate situation resulted from one facility, Sloth World, and they are no longer licensed and it is not a widespread issue,” Young said at the FWC meeting.
The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens took in 13 surviving sloths after a direct request for help caring for the ailing mammals. Zoo officials have said that all those sloths were in poor health when they arrived, some in critical condition, and three — Bandit, Habanero and Dumpling — have passed away, despite the care of veterinarians and animal care specialists. The sloths suffered from nutritional imbalances and gastrointestinal illnesses, zoo officials said. They have since posted on X that the smallest and youngest of the sloths, Mr. Ginger, remains in critical condition and in intensive care.
Sloth Update 🦥 – We’ve received so many questions about Mr. Ginger, the smallest and youngest sloth in the group. He is still in critical condition and in intensive care, but we couldn’t help but share a few cute photos. Thank you, Central Florida & beyond, for your support. pic.twitter.com/IxcCbzmu1U
— Central Florida Zoo (@Centralflzoo) May 8, 2026
According to a report by wildlife officials, 31 sloths under Sloth World’s care died of disease and cold temperatures at a Florida animal import warehouse from December 2024 and February 2025.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Captive Wildlife Inspection Report from August 2025 found that 21 sloths imported from Guyana died at an Orlando facility called Sanctuary World Imports in December 2024 when temperatures dropped into the 40- to 55-degree Fahrenheit range.
Sloths are unable to regulate their body temperature as well as other mammals and do best in the 68- to 85-degree Fahrenheit range, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The FWC report quoted Peter Bandre, listed as the facility licensee in the FWC report, as saying that facility later ordered 10 sloths from Peru, which arrived in February 2025. Two were dead on arrival. The rest appeared emaciated and died of what the report termed “poor health issues,” Bandre said.
“It appears this group of sloths contracted an intestinal infection that resulted in severe and in many cases fatal effects,” Young said.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), U.S. Rep Maxwell Frost (D-Florida) and representatives of The Sloth Institute and The Sloth Conservation Commission have called for Sloth World officials to be held accountable and for the state to take action to ensure that casualties such as these don’t occur again.
Sloth World, which had touted itself as the world’s only “Slotharium,” has since announced that it will not open, and its website is no longer accessible.