ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Local lawmakers gathered with sloth experts to talk about making changes after dozens of sloths that were supposed to be part of a sloth exhibit at Sloth World on International Drive died.
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe of the Sloth Conservation Foundation and Sam Troll of the Sloth Institute say they traveled to Orlando from Costa Rica to prevent more sloths from dying.
Cliffe says, “To get accountability for the people who caused the suffering and to fight for legislative change to prevent it from happening again.” After reviewing necropsy reports, they say 55 sloths died. 21 died of cold stun, after being kept in cages, some too small for the sloths, in a cold warehouse.
Troll says, “These sloths suffered from extreme amounts of stress, intestinal issues related to improper diet, and there is even evidence of physical trauma on their spinal cords.”
According to a new necropsy released by the Central Florida Zoo, a sloth named Bandit died of emaciation and had an accumulation of fluid in his system. Sloths named Fin, Diablo and Kiwi died after suffering from pneumonia. Another sloth named Picasso had a collapsed lung.
Troll says sloths only eat leaves, seeds, and wild fruits and blames an improper diet here in Orlando. “Their large intestines were completely empty, but in their stomachs was still the evidence of their last remaining wild diet, the last time they would ever eat in the wild.”
Cliffe says, “This was a repeated pattern.” “These experts say that from 2011 to 2021, over one thousand sloths were caught from the wild and brought into the United States for commercial purposes. They want it to stop and want the Sloth World operators to be held accountable.”
Cliffe says, “We are calling for a ban on the import of wild-caught sloths into the United States for commercial purposes and private ownership.”
They plan to spend the next couple of days meeting with local lawmakers and the State Attorney to rally for change.
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