Florida Attorney General Joins Criminal Probe Into Sloth World After Dozens of Sloth Deaths

Overview

• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, in a letter released Friday, said his office is assisting the Ninth Judicial Circuit’s investigation into the planned Orlando attraction.
• Sloth World disclosed it is seeking bankruptcy protection, adding financial fallout to the legal crisis now unfolding around the shuttered operation.
• The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission previously closed its civil case without a citation, saying later inspections found compliance and that current law left no basis for penalties.
• FWC reports point to several contributing causes of death—viral infection, exposure to cold in an unheated warehouse, and transport stress—and experts note sloths often mask distress, which can turn stress into fatal organ failure.
• Import records show the company brought in more than 60 wild sloths, with 13 survivors moved to the Central Florida Zoo in April and one infant, Bandit, later dying under care.