If you have been following the Sloth World situation, you already know what the last several weeks have felt like. Every update from the Central Florida Zoo has carried weight. Four of the thirteen sloths rescued from the Orange County warehouse have died. Fifty-six sloths in total have perished since December 2024. A criminal investigation is open with no charges filed. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an import ban and formed a task force, but the accountability that this situation demands has not yet arrived in any meaningful form.
Then on May 18 the Central Florida Zoo posted something that broke the pattern entirely.
Two of the nine surviving sloths, named Dolce and Chewie, have been cleared from the ICU and are now stable in quarantine recovery. The zoo shared photos of the pair, and if you have not seen them yet, make time. One hangs upside down, peeking through the leaves with an expression that lies somewhere between curiosity and complete serenity. The other looks directly at the camera like a small furry celebrity who has decided the photoshoot is going well. Both appear alert, calm, and alive in a way that this story has not been able to say about enough of its subjects.
What Happened Before This
The thirteen sloths arrived at the Central Florida Zoo on April 24 after being rescued from a warehouse off International Drive in Orange County. The warehouse had no heat, no running water, and no windows. Space heaters powered by extension cords from a different building tripped a fuse and left animals in the cold overnight, with nobody present to correct it. All thirteen arrived severely dehydrated, underweight, and with serious gastrointestinal issues.
Four of those thirteen were considered most critical from the moment they arrived. All four of them have since died.
Bandit, Habanero, and Dumpling died with emaciation listed as the cause of death following necropsies, attributed to their previous care at Sloth World. Mr. Ginger, the youngest sloth at an estimated four to six months old, was humanely euthanized on May 15 after weeks of intensive care. He had been hand-fed every few hours and kept in an incubator to regulate his body temperature because he could not do it reliably on his own. The Central Florida Zoo called him a fighter. The care was extraordinary. It was not enough to overcome what had already been done.
Fifty-six sloths have died since December 2024.
What the Sloth Update Says About Dolce and Chewie
The Central Florida Zoo described Dolce and Chewie as fighters in its May 18 update, the same word it has used throughout this situation for every animal in its care. Both sloths continue to battle every day as staff monitors their progress. Zoo officials were careful to note that the situation can change at any time and that recovery from this kind of damage is neither linear nor guaranteed.
Being cleared from the ICU and stable in quarantine is real and meaningful progress. It is not the end of the story. Seven other surviving sloths remain in care at the Central Florida Zoo with names that have not been publicly released. Central Florida Zoo CEO Richard Glover has said previously that there is no guarantee any of the remaining sloths will ultimately survive, noting that bloodwork showed the animals were fed the wrong diet for a long time with critical effects on their bodies.
Where Everything Else Stands
The criminal investigation continues. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office opened the investigation at the request of the State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Attorney General’s Office. No charges have been filed, and no updates on interviews have been confirmed. The sloth import ban is in effect through at least July 10. The FWC task force is working on overhauling exotic animal permit rules. The people responsible for the conditions that killed 56 sloths have not yet faced legal consequences.
That part of the story is still being written.
But Dolce and Chewie are out of the ICU. They are in their recovery habitat, hanging upside down and looking curious and calm in photos that the internet needed after weeks of nothing but loss. The zoo called them fighters, and they earned that description in a way that is genuinely hard to overstate, given everything that happened before they arrived at the Central Florida Zoo.
Fifty-six sloths are gone. These two are still here and getting stronger.
That matters. Right now that is enough.
