Credit: Central Florida ZooThe story of the sloths rescued from the now-closed Sloth World facility has been one that the Central Florida Zoo and the broader public have followed closely since their arrival in April. It began as a rescue mission, a chance to give a group of animals in critical condition a path toward recovery after circumstances that left several of them underweight, dehydrated, and struggling with serious health issues. Over the following weeks, the Zoo’s animal care, nutrition, and veterinary teams have worked tirelessly behind the scenes, treating each sloth as an individual case requiring its own specialized plan. That effort has produced real progress for several of the animals in the group. It has also, painfully, produced loss along the way. This week, the Central Florida Zoo confirmed another one of those losses.
Willow, a female sloth who arrived at the Zoo as part of the rescue group on April 24, has passed away after her health steadily declined over the past several weeks despite consistent medical treatment and close monitoring from the Zoo’s care teams.
What Happened to Willow the Sloth
According to the Zoo’s official sloth update, Willow received daily care and regular medical treatment from the Animal Care, Nutrition, and Veterinary teams throughout her time at the facility. Despite that sustained effort, her condition continued to deteriorate. The Zoo consulted with outside experts through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to conduct a thorough quality of life assessment for Willow, and following that evaluation, the difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize her rather than allow her continued suffering.
Willow’s symptoms in her final decline mirrored those seen in several of the sloths who arrived in the most critical condition back in April, with digestive issues emerging as a recurring and serious concern across multiple animals in the rescue group. Several of the 13 sloths transferred to the Zoo were already in critical condition upon arrival, while others showed signs of being underweight with digestive complications, underscoring how serious the situation was for this group of animals from the very beginning of their time in the Zoo’s care.
Central Florida Zoo CEO Richard Glover addressed Willow’s passing directly, expressing the team’s heartbreak over the outcome while emphasizing the level of dedication the care staff brought to her treatment throughout her time at the facility. The sentiment reflects what has become a consistent thread throughout the Zoo’s public updates on this rescue effort: genuine sadness paired with confidence that every animal in their care, including the ones who have not survived, received the highest level of attention and treatment available.
The Sloths Who Remain
Eight rescued sloths remain in the Zoo’s care following Willow’s passing: Chewy, Dolce, Phantom, Blackberry, Hazel, Leeloo, Mojo Jojo, and Pearl. All eight remain in quarantine, where they receive close monitoring, ongoing veterinary care, and any treatments their individual recoveries require. The Zoo has emphasized that maintaining a low-stress environment remains essential to supporting these animals through what continues to be a delicate recovery process.
The Zoo’s regular public updates have offered glimpses into the personalities and progress of the surviving sloths throughout this process. Blackberry and Hazel, two of the larger female sloths in the group, share a living space and have become known for distinctly different personalities, with Blackberry eagerly greeting keepers at mealtime while Hazel tends to be found relaxed in a hammock, occasionally falling asleep with food still in her mouth. Phantom has drawn particular attention due to markings discovered on the sloth’s abdomen upon arrival, which Zoo officials believe were placed by wildlife traffickers using spray paint to mark animals for identification before transport and sale, a detail that speaks to the broader and troubling circumstances surrounding how this group of sloths ended up needing rescue in the first place.
The Zoo’s animal care team has also been working to gather voluntary weight measurements from the sloths using a specially designed weigh box that allows the animals to be coaxed in with favorite foods rather than handled in a way that would increase stress. Willow, Mojo Jojo, and Leeloo were among the first sloths from whom the team successfully gathered weights using this method, reflecting the careful, low-stress approach the Zoo has applied throughout this entire recovery effort.
A Continuing Effort
Willow’s passing marks a genuinely difficult moment in an effort that has already asked a great deal of the Central Florida Zoo’s animal care professionals. The team’s commitment to the surviving eight sloths remains unchanged, and the Zoo has continued to thank the broader community for the ongoing support shown throughout this process. As recovery continues for Chewy, Dolce, Phantom, Blackberry, Hazel, Leeloo, Mojo Jojo, and Pearl, the Zoo’s updates will likely continue to offer both the difficult moments and the meaningful progress that come with caring for a group of animals whose journey to safety began under circumstances no animal should have to endure.
Source: The Central Florida Zoo
