Florida lawmakers are moving to tighten sloth rules after dozens of the animals died in connection with a failed Orlando tourist attraction. ClickOrlando reports that on Tuesday, State Rep. Anna Eskamani and the Sloth Protection Alliance announced they had submitted to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission five recommended changes that target how sloths are imported, housed, and handled in the state.
The proposal follows the collapse of Sloth World, an uncompleted International Drive attraction where 56 wild-caught sloths died; four of 13 animals later transferred to the Central Florida Zoo have also died. The proposed reforms would bar most imports of wild-caught sloths (those that died were from Guyana and Peru) and outlaw hands-on "sloth encounters" while allowing no-contact educational viewing and feeding.
They also want to create a new regulatory category for the animals. Florida classifies captive animals based on how dangerous they are to humans, Sloth Conservation Foundation director Rebecca Cliffe tells Central Florida Public Media. "There's no classification there for the danger that we pose to the animal, and sloths are kind of a really good flagship species for that issue, because ... the threat that we pose to them is enormous."
Central Florida Public Media shares details from their proposal regarding sloths' fragile nature: The animals survive on specific rainforest leaves, and "sudden dietary changes, such as those that occur when sloths are removed from the wild and transported into the United States, lead to high mortality. Their extremely slow metabolism also means that illness and decline can take weeks to become visible, by which point the damage is often already irreversible." The wildlife commission has already paused sloth imports and intends to have rule changes in place by year's end. A criminal probe into Sloth World remains active.
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