Overview
- FWC, which briefed commissioners Wednesday, is finalizing an executive order to temporarily halt sloth imports, with some officials describing a 60-day pause.
- The agency says 55 sloths tied to the planned Sloth World exhibit died and confirms the operation surrendered its permits and is no longer licensed.
- Thirteen survivors were moved in April to the Central Florida Zoo for emergency care, where staff reported the animals arrived dehydrated and underweight and three later died.
- State necropsies cite systemic viral infections, including gammaherpesvirus and a virus related to Changuinola virus, while conservation groups point to severe emaciation, diet-related gut damage, and spinal trauma.
- FWC will review Class III permits, which currently do not require reporting animal illness or deaths, and enforcing any import pause would likely depend on U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Miami, the main entry point for sloth shipments.