Vip Sloth Encounter
- Our Gift Cards can be redeemed across all of our experiences, including our Rainforest & Sloth package! Perfect as a gift for friends or family. Perfect as a gift for friends or family. Your experience starts with drinks in the Discovery Centre, where you will be introduced to a member of our zoo team who will give you a short health and safety.
- VIP Sloth encounters & Sponsorship also includes a behind the scenes tour where you will get up close and personal with a few of Jubilees friends, a tour of the future sloth exhibit, a chance to say hello to Jubilee & Jolly up close and personal including interaction through feeding and touching.
- Sloth lovers had better be prepared because in 2018 Drusillas Park will be introducing a brand new Close Encounter experience with their beautiful two-toed sloths. This unique experience will allow visitors the chance to come face-to-face with these strange and wonderful animals.
- There are two types of sloth encounters at Wild Florida: the VIP experience and the sloth encounter. The sloth encounter Wild Florida is limited to 10 guests and involves taking a picture with a sloth.
The “Home Safari” takes place every weekday at 3 p.m. Eastern, and today’s featured animal is the sloth. The live stream for Moe and Lightning the sloths will start at 3 p.m.
Conservation Status: Least concern
Since July 1, 2019, Alligator & Wildlife Discovery Center has offered a Sloth Encounter, an exclusive and one of a kind animal encounter with Sid. While this experience make dreams come true for guest, a portion of funds raised by the Sloth Encounter will be donated to the conservation and preservation of wild Sloths in Costa Rica.
Information and Pricing
- $50 per person + general admission.
- Ages 8 and up. Children 15 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult over 18 years of age.
- Advance registration guarantees your experience. Same-day registration is based on program availability and cannot be guaranteed. Programs may sell out early for holidays and special weekends.
Call 727-329-8751 to book TODAY!
For those of us with this intense fascination with sloths, few experiences can compare with actually seeing one in real life. Ideally, we would be able to see them in the wild (see our article: Where Can You See a Sloth in the WIld?). However, we can’t get away to Costa Rica or Brazil very often. So, what are our options in the U.S.?
First of all, we have a similar article which is focused primarily on south encounters with up-close-and-personal experiences: Where can I hold a Sloth? Sloths in North America. We recognize that holding sloths might not be the best experience for sloths. We also know that some zoos that have sloths do not always have the sloths best interests in mind. Those are all things that we have taken account in this list.
So, let’s take a look at the list of 5 best places to see sloths in the US.
1. Hattiesburg Zoo
Located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, this zoo has a special sloth experience. The overall zoo is one of the most well-regarded experiences for animal lovers in the Deep South. Here is a review from a visitor:
“It is the most awesome experience if you are a sloth lover (like myself). But you will need to book this experience VERY EARLY as it only happens 2 days a week for a couple hours. You can always view the sloths, just not hold them. Everyone who works there really loves their job and are always helpful when you have any questions about the animals. Make sure if you are in Hattiesburg or the surrounding area you go to this great zoo!”
The Hattiesburg Zoo is also nice enough to provide us with a live feed of a camera that is monitoring their sloths. So, at anytime you want you can take a look:
2. Wild Florida Airboats - VIP Sloth Experience
Florida’s warm climate is ideal for sloths and for the type of trees that sloths like to live in, so it’s no surprise that one of the most amazing sloth-holding experiences is in that state. Wild Florida Airboats has a Gator Park, which has not only alligators, but many other animals, including our favorite rainforest lazeabouts. For a price of $225 anyone 8 years old or older can feed, interact AND HOLD sloths. You can make reservations with Wild Florida Airboats for the VIP Sloth Experience on their website.
Wild Florida Airboats has a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor based on over 2500 reviews, so it is a safe bet not only for sloth lovers, but for a whole family looking for a wildlife adventure. This park is located in Kenasville, Florida. The closest airport is in Orlando, but you would still need to drive to get there.
3. Louisville Zoo
The Louisville Zoo (in Louisville, Kentucky) is the home of two Linnaeus’s two-toed sloths. One is a male named Sebastian that is one year old. The other is an older female named Sunni. They have a special reproduced South American habitat at the zoo. Not only can you see them there, but you can also ‘meet’ them in a special encounter with the sloths and their caretaker who will educate visitors about sloths.
4. Safari Adventures
Florida has another recommendable option for holding a sloth in Miami called Safari Edventures (education + adventure, get it? :) ) Even in a place like Miami that is full of fun, this attraction is one of the top rated things to do in Miami, according to TripAdvisor.
Vip Sloth Encounter
Sloths are just one of many animals at Safari Edventure, but you do get to hold them! Another interesting thing about this park is that it is a non-profit and most of the animals (according to their website, and we’re not sure about the sloths) are rescued animals.
5. The Houston Zoo
The Houston Zoo boasts the Sloth Encounter at their park. This is an up-close experience with our lazy forest friends. The zoo has an elaborate recreation of a sloths habitat where you are led on a tour by experts. There is also a special setup that allows you to get very close to the sloths.
Although there are some restrictions, this is a highly rated experience. The lack of holding is said to be for the safety of the sloths and for the humans. We suppose we should respect that and still give this place a try.
You can get to know the sloth at the Houston Zoo in this video:
There are lots of different sloth exhibits out there, and these are just the ones we know are worth it. Please contact us if you know of any others.