Stories tagged #parks-outdoors

A second sloth dies after transfer to a central Florida zoo from troubled Sloth World

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A second sloth taken to a central Florida zoo for rehabilitation has died out of a group given up by a yet-to-open tourist attraction facing scrutiny for the deaths of more than 30 other sloths imported from Guyana and Peru.Habanero, an adult male, was euthanized Saturday to prevent further suffering at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. He had been taken there for rehabilitation along with a dozen other sloths given up by Sloth World, a tourist attraction planned for Orlando's tourism district that never opened, zoo officials said.Another sloth, Bandit, died last week after being transferred to the zoo.“When the sloths arrived, all were underweight and are being treated for gastrointestinal (GI) issues, requiring intensive, specialized care,” the zoo said in a statement. “Habanero initially showed encouraging signs of stabilization, including eating and drinking regularly under the close supervision of the zoo’s veterinary and animal care teams. In recent days, however, his condition worsened.”A criminal investigation into the sloths' treatment under Sloth World's care is underway by state and local authorities.Inspection reports by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission revealed 31 deaths between December 2024 and February 2025.The wildlife agency said 21 sloths imported from Guyana died at an Orlando facility called Sanctuary World Imports at the time in December 2024 when temperatures dropped into the 40-to-55 degree Fahrenheit (4.4 to 12.8 degrees Celsius) range. Sloths are unable to regulate their body temperature as well as other mammals and do best in the 68-to-85 degree Fahrenheit (20 to 30 degrees Celsius) range.The tourist attraction later ordered 10 sloths from Peru, which arrived in February 2025. Two were dead on arrival. The rest appeared emaciated and died of what the report termed “poor health issues," according to the state agency's report.There was no answer Monday at a phone number listed for the tourist attraction in the wildlife agency's report.Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Hialeah man stabbed another man with kitchen knife in random attack, cops say

Astronomers believe they've detected an atmosphere around a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A new study suggests that a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto harbors a thin, delicate atmosphere that may have been created by volcanic eruptions or a comet strike.Just 300 miles (500 kilometers) or so across, this mini Pluto is thought to be the solar system's smallest object yet with a clearly detected global atmosphere bound by gravity, said lead researcher Ko Arimatsu of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.“This is an amazing development, but it sorely needs independent verification. The implications are profound if verified,” said Southwest Research Institute's Alan Stern, the lead scientist behind NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond. He was not involved in the study.The finding offers fresh insight into our solar system’s farthest, coldest objects in a region known as the Kuiper Belt. Researchers used three telescopes in Japan to observe the object in 2024 as it passed in front of a background star, briefly dimming the starlight.“It changes our view of small worlds in the solar system, not only beyond Neptune,” Arimatsu said in an email. Finding an atmosphere around such a small object was “genuinely surprising," he added, and challenges “the conventional view that atmospheres are limited to large planets, dwarf planets and some large moons.”This so-called minor planet — formally known as (612533) 2002 XV93 — is considered a plutino, circling the sun twice in the time it takes Neptune to complete three solar orbits. At the time of the study, it was more than 3.4 billion miles (5.5 billion kilometers) away, farther than even Pluto, the only other object in the Kuiper Belt with an observed atmosphere.This cosmic iceball’s atmosphere is believed to be 5 million to 10 million times thinner than Earth’s protective atmosphere, according to the the study appearing Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.It’s 50 to 100 times thinner than even Pluto’s tenuous atmosphere. The likeliest atmospheric chemicals are methane, nitrogen or carbon monoxide, any of which could reproduce the observed dimming as the object passed before the star, according to Arimatsu.Further observations, especially by NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, could verify the makeup of the atmosphere, according to Arimatsu.“That is why future monitoring is so important," he said. "If the atmosphere fades over the next several years, that would support an impact origin. If it persists, or varies seasonally, that would point more toward ongoing internal gas supply” from ice volcanoes.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Incendio Highway 41 queda contenido al 100% tras arrasar 9,149 acres en el oeste de Miami-Dade

Police search for suspects in Oklahoma shooting that sent at least 13 people to hospitals

Authorities in Edmond, Oklahoma, are searching for suspects following a shooting at a lakeside party that injured at least 13 individuals on Sunday night. The incident occurred near Arcadia Lake, a popular recreational area just outside Oklahoma City. According to police spokesperson Emily Ward, no arrests have been made, and victims are currently in various conditions as ten were transported to hospitals while others sought care independently.

A sun-baked Senegal village erupts in color for one of Africa’s biggest dance festivals