Florida Closed Investigation Into 31 Sloth Deaths With Only A Verbal Warning
Florida wildlife regulators responded to the deaths of 31 sloths in an unpermitted warehouse with a verbal warning and no citation, closing their investigation in August 2025 even after finding substandard cages and documenting that tropical animals froze to death when makeshift heaters failed during a December 2024 cold snap. The case exposes regulatory gaps that allow exotic animal attractions to operate without notifying authorities when animals die, maintain expired permits, and face virtually no consequences for preventable neglect.
How The Deaths Unfolded
Twenty-one two-toed sloths from Guyana died from "cold stun" after arriving at a Florida warehouse on December 18, 2024, when temperatures dropped to 46°F the following week. The warehouse had no power or water of its own. Temporary heaters ran on extension cables from a neighboring building, and when those heaters failed, animals native to tropical rainforests requiring 70-86°F died from exposure.
Ten more sloths from a February 2025 shipment from Peru either arrived dead or died shortly after from what the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) documented as emaciation and "poor health issues." The facility's then-owner, Peter Bandre, told FWC inspectors the warehouse "was not properly set to receive animals" and that "it was too late to cancel the shipment." By February 2025, all 31 sloths procured for a planned Orlando attraction called Sloth World were dead.
The sloths were meant for what the attraction's website advertised as a 7,500-square-foot "slotharium" where "more than 40 sloths live on their terms" at $49 per ticket. Instead, they died in a building permitted by Orange County for vehicle storage, not animals.
A Regulatory System With No Teeth
When FWC inspectors visited the facility in August 2025, eight months after the first deaths, they found cages that did not meet animal welfare regulations. The agency issued only a verbal warning for a "captive wildlife discrepancy" and closed its investigation without a written citation or fine.
State Representative Anna V. Eskamani revealed in April 2026 that current Florida regulations do not require facilities to notify authorities when animals die. She also disclosed that the facility's wildlife exhibition permit had expired, yet the animals remained in the owners' possession. The FWC confirmed that Sloth World holds a permit on file allowing exhibition or sale of wildlife, but provided no explanation for why expired permits don't trigger enforcement action.
Orange County building inspectors issued a stop-work order at the warehouse in April 2026 after discovering modifications made without authorization to change the building's use from vehicle storage to animal housing. The inspector attempted to access the building four separate times but found nobody there, according to county officials.
This enforcement pattern creates a system where operators can warehouse imported wildlife in unpermitted buildings, allow dozens of animals to die, and face no financial penalty or criminal charge. The verbal warning represents the entirety of state consequences for 31 preventable deaths.
Contradictory Explanations
Current Sloth World owner Ben Agresta, who took sole ownership after Bandre left the company, denied the accuracy of the FWC incident report. He told Fox-35 that the sloths "had a virus of which showed barely any symptoms and was undetectable even after necropsy."
That explanation contradicts the FWC documentation, which attributes 21 deaths to cold stun and the remaining deaths to emaciation and poor health upon arrival. Necropsies identified environmental conditions and malnutrition, not an undetectable virus. Agresta told reporters "there was so much false and inaccurate information out there right now" but did not specify which parts of the state wildlife agency's incident report he disputed.
The factual record shows animals requiring tropical temperatures arrived at a warehouse without independent power during a Florida cold snap, and that the facility's former owner acknowledged to state inspectors that the building wasn't ready to receive them.
The Expert Who Couldn't Say No
Peter Bandre appears on the Sloth World website as "one of the most respected sloth experts in the world," credited with responsibility for 90% of sloths on display at U.S. exhibits. His expertise makes the warehouse deaths more difficult to explain as simple ignorance. Someone who has placed sloths in facilities across the country knew the temperature requirements, knew the warehouse lacked proper infrastructure, and told inspectors he knew it was too late to cancel the shipment.
That admission suggests a business model where financial commitments to international wildlife suppliers override animal welfare considerations. The sloths were already in transit, the money presumably already spent, and the attraction's spring 2025 opening already advertised. Bandre's departure from Sloth World occurred sometime between the deaths and the current ownership structure, though the exact timeline remains unclear.
The remaining sloths from the shipments now reside at another central Florida zoo. Sloth World's website still advertises a spring opening, though that season has passed and no facility has opened to the public.
What Happens Next
U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost, who represents central Florida, announced in April 2026 that his office was investigating the attraction. Animal advocacy groups have called for Orange County officials to halt Sloth World's planned opening entirely. Nicole Barrantes, wildlife campaign manager at World Animal Protection US, called the warehouse conditions "a tragic example of the cruel and unethical wildlife trade."
But federal and local scrutiny doesn't address the core regulatory failure: Florida's wildlife exhibition permit system allowed this to happen and imposed no meaningful penalty after it did. The state has no requirement for facilities to report animal deaths. Permits can expire without triggering enforcement. Inspections that find substandard conditions result in verbal warnings.
Representative Eskamani's disclosure that the facility continues to hold animals despite an expired permit suggests the regulatory framework treats wildlife exhibition permits as effectively optional. The FWC has not explained what circumstances would warrant more than a verbal warning, or whether any number of animal deaths would trigger a citation.
Orange County's building code enforcement offers a parallel regulatory track, since the warehouse was never authorized for animal housing. But that addresses zoning violations, not animal welfare standards or the import pipeline that funnels wildlife from Peru and Guyana into unprepared U.S. facilities. The stop-work order prevents further construction, but doesn't answer whether anyone will face consequences for the 31 animals that already died, or what prevents the same scenario from unfolding at the next facility with an expired permit and a warehouse that isn't ready.