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Florida's attorney general is investigating a proposed attraction in Orlando called Sloth World. More than 30 wild sloths imported to Florida for the exhibit have died, and a local zoo is now trying to keep the remaining 10 sloths alive. Molly Duerig with Central Florida Public Media reports.
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MOLLY DUERIG, BYLINE: It feels like a typical afternoon at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens. The African hornbills are calling, and the kids are playing at the splash pad.
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DUERIG: But behind the scenes, something not so typical for this zoo is happening. Around the clock in an off-limits quarantine area, animal care teams are tending to the delicate needs of about a dozen sudden arrivals, sloths.
RICHARD GLOVER: Every hour every one of them is getting checked on, and it's just kind of this continual routine, hour after hour after hour.
DUERIG: That's zoo CEO Richard Glover talking about the sloths the zoo recently took in. They're tree-dwellers, known for their slow movements and metabolism. Sloth World's owners used AI-generated visuals of people getting up close to the animals to promote the exhibit that never opened. State records show they imported dozens of sloths from South America. Inside Climate News broke the news of the sloths' deaths last month. At this point, at least 34 have died, including now three of the sloths the zoo took in.
GLOVER: It's been a struggle. They all came in with quite a few things wrong with them.
DUERIG: Mineral deficiencies, dehydration, diarrhea - necropsies show the presence of two viral infections. One veterinarian says they were likely triggered by extreme stress and cold temperatures. Sam Trull is with the Sloth Institute in Costa Rica, which analyzed the necropsies.
SAM TRULL: I think the most concerning aspect is that everything they did, minus the animal abuse - it was legal.
DUERIG: Sloth World's owners were allowed to import the sloths under Florida law. Keeping them alive requires an extremely specific diet of fresh leaves from certain trees. Trull says sloths are so delicate and have a slim chance of survival in captivity.
TRULL: Why are we doing something that's definitely going to doom them to death?
DUERIG: Sloth World's owners did not respond to requests for comment. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he was shocked to hear the attraction was ever planned.
RON DESANTIS: It was kind of surprising to me to see just that that was even an issue, that that would even be an attraction. Honestly, I was surprised to see that.
DUERIG: As state prosecutors investigate Sloth World's owners, the zoo's medical team is working to try and keep the remaining 10 sloths alive. For NPR News, I'm Molly Duerig in Orlando.
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