Another death has hit the group of 13 sloths brought to the Central Florida Zoo after the closure of the planned International Drive attraction, zoo officials announced Tuesday.
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“It’s with a heavy heart that we share the passing of Willow, a female sloth cared for behind-the-scenes at the zoo,” reads an update on the zoo’s website. “Despite daily care and regular medical treatments from our Animal Care, Nutrition, and Veterinary Teams, Willow’s condition continued to steadily decline over the past few weeks.”
The zoo stated the decision was made to euthanize Willow after consulting with he Association of Zoos and Aquariums and performing a quality of life assessment.
“Willow was one of a group of sloths who joined us on April 24. Upon arrival, several of them were in critical condition and others were underweight with digestive issues. In her decline, Willow showed similar digestive symptoms to those sloths who arrived in need of critical treatment,” the zoo stated.
The sloth is the fifth of the 13 that has died, but the first in more than a month. The previous sloths from the group that had died were named Mr. Ginger, Bandit, Habanero and Dumpling.
The surviving sloths, which remain in behind-the-scenes care, are named Chewy, Dolce, Phantom, Blackberry, Hazel, Leeloo, Mojo Jojo and Pearl.
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The death of Willow brings the total number of sloth deaths tied to the ill-fated attraction to 57.
Previous deaths had occurred at a warehouse that housed the animals in anticipation of the attraction’s opening. Those deaths had prompted animal rights groups to call for a criminal investigation into the business.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on May 1 that a criminal probe had been launched, being led by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office working with a statewide prosecutor with expertise in “animal welfare law.”
The state also enacted last month at least a temporary ban of the import of any more sloths into the state.
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Sloth imports had come from South American countries Guyana and Peru.