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<div>In April 2026, the world was horrified by the story of a facility called Sloth World in Orlando, Florida. More than 60 sloths had been violently and legally captured from the rainforest, imported into the United States, and kept in appalling conditions. At least 55 have since died. The surviving sloths were eventually surrendered and transferred into emergency care, where they are now fighting for their lives.
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<div>The story spread globally. Millions of people saw the headlines and asked the same question: how could this possibly happen in the United States?
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<div>The answer is simple: because under current law, this is legal. This is the commercial sloth trade - a horrifyingly cruel and inhumane industry that has been operating quietly behind closed doors for years. Sloth World was not an isolated incident. It was just the tip of a very large iceberg, and the first time the public got a glimpse into what has really been happening behind the scenes.
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<div>But now, finally, the curtain has been lifted. For the first time, we have an opportunity to end the commercial sloth trade in the United States permanently. But we need your help to make that happen.
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<div><strong>What We Are Fighting For</strong>
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<div>Every year, hundreds of wild sloths are captured from the rainforest and shipped into the United States to supply the exotic pet trade and commercial exhibition industry. They end up in roadside zoos where people pay to hold them, touch them, and take photos with them - usually with no idea about the suffering behind those experiences. And the suffering is immense.
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<div>Sloths are physiologically very sensitive animals that do not cope well with the trauma of capture, transport, and handling. Unlike most animals, they lack a strong fight-or-flight response, which makes them particularly vulnerable to stress. They have highly specialized diets and struggle to regulate their body temperature outside of very specific environmental conditions.
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<div>An estimated 99% of live sloth imports are wild-caught, and an estimated 80 - 90% die during the process of capture and trafficking. We believe there is no ethical, scientific, or conservation justification for removing wild sloths from the rainforest and shipping them into the exotic animal trade, especially when the only beneficiaries are the small number of people profiting from their exploitation
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<div><strong>We are calling for:</strong>
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<li>A permanent nationwide ban on the importation of sloths into the United States
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<li>An end to hands-on sloth encounters
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<li>A review of how sloths are currently classified and regulated under US law
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<li>Criminal accountability for those responsible for the suffering and deaths at Sloth World
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<div><strong>Why This Moment Matters</strong>
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<div>Most wildlife trafficking stories never receive this kind of public attention. Most disappear silently behind closed doors before anyone notices, but this time feels different. Right now, lawmakers are listening, regulators are paying attention, and momentum is building faster than we ever expected.
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<div>The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has already temporarily halted the importation of sloths into Florida for 60 days, and federal lawmakers are starting to actually consider legislation to permanently ban sloth imports into the United States.
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<div><strong>Who We Are</strong>
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<div>We are <a href="https://www.slothconservation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Sloth Conservation Foundation</a> (SloCo) and <a href="https://www.theslothinstitute.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Sloth Institute</a> (TSI) - two nonprofit organizations based in Costa Rica that together have spent decades studying, rescuing, rehabilitating, and protecting sloths in the wild. Together, we have joined forces to create the <em>Sloth Protection Alliance</em>: a collaborative effort dedicated to ending the commercial sloth trade.
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<div>Back in January 2026, we were the organizations that first uncovered what was happening at Sloth World and sounded the alarm publicly. We worked closely with investigative journalists from Inside Climate News to expose the scale of the situation, and once the story broke, we amplified it everywhere we could.
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<div>Since then, we have traveled to Florida to meet directly with lawmakers, wildlife agencies, prosecutors, and investigators. We have been pushing for criminal accountability, stronger protections for captive sloths, and permanent policy changes to ensure this never happens again.
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<div><strong>Why We Need Your Help</strong>
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<div>The reality is that we were never financially prepared to be at the center of something of this scale. Like most conservation nonprofits, we were already operating at full capacity protecting sloths in the wild. Since January, we have poured hundreds of unpaid hours and thousands of dollars into this effort because we realized that this may be the single biggest opportunity we will ever have to end the commercial sloth trade for good. But this work is expensive, and we can’t continue without help. We need help funding:
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<li>Legal consultations
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<li>Policy development
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<li>Travel to meet with lawmakers and wildlife agencies
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<li>Public records requests and investigative work
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<li>Scientific and technical consultation
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<li>Sequencing the genomes of the surviving sloths to identify where they were captured from in the wild
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<div><strong>Together, we are raising $30,000 to support the next phase of this work.</strong>
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<div>Every dollar raised through this fundraiser will go directly towards supporting the ongoing efforts of our organizations as we push this work forward. The sloths that suffered and died at Sloth World cannot be saved, but we can make sure they become the reason this never happens again. Please help us end the commercial sloth trade in the United States once and for all.
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