ORLANDO, FLORIDA– A second sloth transported to a Central Florida zoo for rehabilitation has died, among a group abandoned by a tourist attraction that has not yet opened. Facing scrutiny of deaths More than 30 other sloths are imported from Guyana and Peru.
The habanero, an adult male, was euthanized Saturday to prevent further suffering at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. He was moved there to be rehabilitated along with dozens of other sloths abandoned by the Sloth Zoo, a planned tourist attraction in the Orlando tourist area that never opened, zoo officials said.
The other sloth, Bandit, died last week after being transferred to the zoo.
“When the sloths arrived, they were all underweight and suffering from gastrointestinal problems, requiring intensive and specialized care,” the zoo said in a statement. “The habanero initially showed encouraging signs of stabilization, including eating and drinking regularly under the close supervision of the zoo’s veterinary and animal care teams. But its condition has worsened in recent days.”
State and local authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into the treatment of sloths under Sloth World’s care.
Inspection reports from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission revealed 31 deaths between December 2024 and February 2025.
The wildlife agency said 21 sloths imported from Guyana died at an Orlando facility called Sanctuary World Imports at the time in December 2024 when temperatures dropped to the 40 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 to 12.8 degrees Celsius) range. Sloths are unable to regulate their body temperature like other mammals, and do best in the range of 68 to 85 degrees F (20 to 30 degrees C).
The tourist destination later ordered 10 sloths from Peru, which arrived in February 2025. Two of them were dead on arrival. The rest appeared emaciated and died from what the report described as “poor health problems,” according to the government agency’s report.
There was no answer Monday at the phone number listed for the tourist attraction in the wildlife agency’s report.