A leading sloth expert said “massive” regulatory gaps enabled operators of the Sloth World attraction previously planned for Orlando to import dozens of sloths and fail to provide them with proper care.
The expert, Rebecca Cliffe, said those gaps allowed Sloth World’s operators to legally import members of the delicate species and provide state regulators with little to no follow-up information about their condition. Cliffe is the founder and director of The Sloth Conservation Foundation, based in Costa Rica.
So far, 32 sloths imported for the attraction are confirmed to have died, according to state records and the zoo where 12 additional sloths are now receiving medical care.
Thirteen sloths were transferred last week from a Sloth World warehouse facility to the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens. The weakest of those animals — a young sloth named Bandit — died Wednesday.
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“If you get a FWC license, you can import sloths legally into the country,” Cliffe said. “But once you've got them in your care and in your custody, you don't have to report what happens to them. So you could get them, they can die, and then you never have to tell anybody. And that's exactly what happened at Sloth World.”
Cliffe’s claims are supported by information from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The state agency designates sloths, along with many other non-domesticated animal species, as Class III wildlife. There is no formal list of all species with that designation “due to the large volume of species” categorized as such, according to FWC.
Although Class III permit holders are required to keep accurate animal inventory records, they are not required to report animal deaths to the FWC, according to FWC spokesperson Arielle Callender.
“There is no rule, law, or permit requirement that permit holders must notify the FWC about animal illness or death,” Callender wrote in an email Thursday.
Class III permit holders do need to notify FWC of any escapes, bite incidents and transfers.
Between December 18, 2024, and March 2, 2026, Sloth World reported a total 61 imported sloths to FWC, according to Callender. By February 2025, FWC records show 31 of those sloths had died.
An investigation published last month by Inside Climate News revealed those deaths and drew a landslide of public attention to the Sloth World operation, which never opened — and, now, never will.
RELATED: Brought to Orlando for 'Sloth World,' wild sloths died by the dozens
“FWC investigators are in the process of working with the owner to relinquish all permits related to Sloth World. The FWC can confirm that all Sloth World facilities have closed and no sloths remain in any of the previously permitted facilities,” Callender said in the email.
Up until now, much of the public focus has been on two locations tied to the Sloth World operation on International Drive: one warehouse-like facility in unincorporated Orange County, where sloths were being housed, and another building within the city of Orlando. The second building on I-Drive is where Sloth World operators planned to open an interactive, public-facing sloth exhibit.
But according to FWC, there was a third facility connected to Sloth World. An inspection on March 23 of this year revealed 26 sloths at 1304 22nd St. in Orlando.
FWC reports that in April, 13 sloths were transferred to another permitted facility.
The Central Florida Zoo confirmed on April 24 it had taken in 13 sloths “donated” from Sloth World. The zoo is one of 229 animal care facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums in the United States.
Cliffe said AZA-accredited facilities “tend to prioritize [animal] welfare” and are something people should look for, if they’re trying to gauge whether or not a given facility is ethical in its treatment of animals.
With sloths specifically, Cliffe said, another key thing to look out for is whether the facility allows people to regularly hold and touch the animals, as Sloth World was planning to do.
“There's plenty of scientific evidence that shows that sloths do not like being handled by strangers,” Cliffe said. “Anywhere that allows [regular] hands-on contact with the sloths like that tends to be crossing a line, in our professional opinion.”
Right now, “massive” gaps exist in the United States’ current regulatory framework for owning exotic animals, Cliffe said.
“Florida is one of the worst,” Cliffe said. “The exotic animal ownership laws in Florida are very weak, and it's definitely something that we want to improve, but we're aiming nationally. … I think that's the only solution here.”
More than 1,100 wild-caught sloths entered the U.S. between 2011 to 2021, according to research published late last year by The Sloth Institute, which partners closely with Cliffe’s organization. Of 417 live sloth shipments analyzed by the nonprofit institute, more than 98% came through the port of Miami.
Cliffe said she fears the current death toll of 32 sloths imported for Sloth World will keep rising.
“My real suspicion is that they've imported far, far more than we know about,” Cliffe said. “There are unaccounted-for sloths that have passed away, that are not reflected in the numbers that are currently being reported. So there's a lot more still to come out of this.”
At an unrelated press conference held in Ormond Beach Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to reporters’ questions about Sloth World. He said he found it surprising the attraction was ever planned to begin with.
“I know FWC got involved, and I think that they're going to have to rectify whatever was the matter,” DeSantis said. “I'll let them handle, kind of, what they did, didn't do, and we can work through that. … But they'll get it right, one way or another.”
So far, at least two formal requests have been filed for a criminal investigation into Sloth World’s operators. Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, sent such a request this week to Attorney General James Uthmeier, and PETA sent another to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Cliffe said that, right now, she has two main goals: to hold Sloth World’s operators accountable and to see legislation enacted to prevent a similar situation from ever happening again.
“What right do we have to be taking living, sentient animals that live for up to 50 years out of the wild, and owning them and profiting off them?” Cliffe said. “It's just a little bit dated, and I don't think it's what people want anymore.”
