A startup known as \u201cSloth World\u201d brought some 69 sloths to Orlando, Florida, with plans to charge $49 to let\u00a0visitors see them\u00a0up close. However,\u00a052 sloths\u00a0are believed to have died in conditions a former employee described to Mongabay as \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d ultimately forcing Sloth World to shut down, with plans to file for\u00a0bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
Described as a slotharium, the venture was framed as a rescue mission to save sloths from deforested areas in Peru and Guyana. However, according to Rebecca Cliffe, founder and director of the Costa Rica-based nonprofit\u00a0Sloth Conservation Foundation, that premise amounts to greenwashing, as more than 80% of Guyana is covered in rainforest. \u201cThere is no lack of habitat available for these sloths,\u201d Cliffe told Mongabay in a video call.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way taking healthy adult breeding sloths\u00a0out of an ecosystem, to go into a for-profit exhibit in the United States\u2026 [is] in the sloth\u2019s best interest,\u201d Cliffe said.<\/p>\n
In their natural habitat, sloths mainly eat native tree leaves and live alone.<\/p>\n
At Sloth World, the animals were kept in small cages stacked on top of each other and fed vegetables.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would feed kale, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and Mazuri biscuits, an exotic animal feed,\u201d a former caretaker who briefly worked at Sloth World told Mongabay. The caretaker asked not to be named for fear of retribution.<\/p>\n
In their two weeks working with Sloth World, the caretaker said they saw a lot of sick animals, that they were told had intestinal problems. Normally, sloths defecate just once per week, but the caretaker said some of the sloths were routinely covered in feces and when they became heavily soiled, the individuals were carried in a pillowcase and washed off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was one of the things that really hurt to see\u00a0because\u2026. his little arms were struggling all over the place and I know that puts a ton of stress on them,\u201d the caretaker said. \u201cAnd after they\u00a0hosed him off, they would just put him back into the enclosure all wet.\u201d<\/p>\n
They said the final straw was when a baby sloth in the facility died. It came with its mother, but the mother died after arriving in Florida. \u201cIt was heartbreaking,\u201d the caretaker said, adding they quit the job soon after.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0state investigation\u00a0found 31 sloths died in the facility which lacked proper heating. Peter Bandre, formerly Sloth World\u2019s vice president, told state inspectors that most of the animals died from a \u201ccold stun\u201d when the power went out overnight and the space heaters used to warm the facility didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
However, Ben Agresta, the owner of Sloth World\u00a0said\u00a0the sloths that died had a virus, with \u201cbarely any symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sloth World recently shut down and surrendered 13 surviving sloths to the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Garden. On April 29 the\u00a0zoo reported\u00a0that 1 sloth has since died, the remaining 12 are in stable condition.<\/p>\n
This article\u00a0<\/a><\/em>by Bobby Bascomb was first published by Mongabay on 29 April 2026. Lead Image: A three-toed sloth.\u00a0Image by Sergio Delgado via\u00a0Flickr.<\/a>\u00a0(CC BY 2.0.)<\/em><\/p>\n Protect wildlife by making a monthly donation as little as $5.<\/em><\/p>\nHelp to protect wildlife<\/h2>\n