Florida Democrat ‘appalled’ by report 31 sloths died in storage warehouse 

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said Thursday that he was appalled by a report about the death of 31 sloths that died under the care of Sloth World, a tourist attraction in Orlando, Fla., that wasn’t yet opened to the public.

The sloths were from South American rainforests and perished in storage warehouses between December 2024 and February 2025, according to an incident report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“These sloths — naturally solitary animals — were put in the worst conditions possible,” Frost said in a Thursday post on social platform X. “They were taken from their natural habitats to a packed warehouse that wasn’t properly heated and allowed for the spread of deadly viruses, leading to a stress-induced death.”

The incident report stated that the facility’s owner at the time, Peter Bandre, told inspectors that 21 of the sloths from Guyana died from a “cold stun.” This happened because the warehouse was not ready to receive the sloths during December’s cold. The warehouse also had no water or electricity and relied on heaters powered by an extension cord from a neighboring building.

The facility’s then-owner said in the report that the building was not ready to receive the sloths, but it was too late to cancel shipment. 

The other 10 sloths arrived from Peru four days after the first batch, with two sloths dead on arrival. The others died from poor health issues after appearing emaciated.

Frost said he was looking into the tragedy and would coordinate with local officials to determine how to best move forward.

“I’ve called on the Secretary of Agriculture and USDA to investigate Sloth World, protect any surviving sloths, and prevent more from being brought in,” Frost said in a follow-up X post Friday. “We cannot allow this to continue.”

Sloth World said it had been “managing a difficult situation regarding a foreign virus” and has worked tirelessly to address it, alongside their veterinarian, the Florida Department of Agriculture and other outside experts, according to a statement to central Florida’s Fox 35 on Monday. 

But Sloth World also told Fox 35, “We are aware of rumors such as claiming that our sloths were ‘cold-stunned’ or left without water and electricity.”

“These claims are entirely false. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission conducted a thorough inspection of our facility just last week, found absolutely no wrongdoings, and fully renewed our license,” the statement said. 

An inspector with Orange County’s Building Safety on Thursday issued a “stop work” order at the warehouse after visiting the building, according to Fox 35. It determined that it appeared animals were being stored without a permit, but it was unclear if sloths were actively in the building.

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