‘Long road ahead’: 13 sloths rescued from Sloth World continue recovery at Central Florida Zoo
By Allison Petro, Kennedy Mason
Click here for updates on this story
SANFORD, Florida (WESH) — The 13 surviving sloths from Sloth World continue to recover at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford.
The zoo shared on social media that the sloths made it through their second night.
The surviving sloths were transported from a nearby warehouse, where 31 sloths intended for Sloth World were found dead.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report shows at least 31 sloths died months before Sloth World was set to open. The report blames cold stun after temperatures inside their warehouse dropped to the mid-40s in December.
Some also passed away from “poor health issues.”
In the latest update, the zoo said the animals are “receiving dedicated care from our animal and veterinary teams, with regular monitoring and treatment.”
The sloths, imported from Guyana and Peru, will remain in quarantine for 30 days to assess their medical conditions.
Although zoo officials are “feeling cautiously optimistic” about the animals’ progress, they said one sloth, Bandit, remains in guarded condition.
“We think he’s a little over a year old, and he’s the one that came in in the worst shape,” said Richard Glover, Central Florida Zoo CEO. “He is dehydrated. He’s really weak. He’s showing a lot of signs of just weakness and not being able to really rally the way a lot of the others have, and he hasn’t responded to diet and fluids as well as some of the others have.”
Jodi Heger bought Sloth World tickets back in February. She planned on going with her daughter, who loves sloths and even has a big sloth tattoo.
“I am hoping for a refund, and I would be glad to donate the money to the Sanford Zoo in helps of keeping the other ones alive and well,” Heger said.
Glover said donations make a big difference for these sloths, with blood tests being the most expensive part of the sloths’ treatment.
“There’s still a long road ahead, and we’re taking it one step at a time,” Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens said in a Facebook post.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.