Congress moves to ban sloth imports, closing a wildlife trafficking loophole.
H.R. 10867 — SLOTHS Act of 2026 · Filed by Maxwell Frost (D-FL) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Oct 22, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits importing live sloths into the United States, with narrow exceptions for dead sloths used in research and live sloths moved to accredited zoos as part of breeding programs (if not recently captured from the wild). Violators face civil penalties up to $20,000 per violation, criminal fines up to $100,000, loss of federal wildlife import/export licenses, and forfeiture of the animals. The bill aims to reduce trafficking and harm to wild sloth populations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is restricting the importation of a specific animal species to reduce trafficking and protect wild populations. This is straightforward environmental/wildlife conservation legislation with defined exceptions for legitimate institutional use.
What the text implies
- The bill grants the Secretary of the Interior broad discretion to determine what constitutes 'research purposes' and 'breeding program' compliance, potentially creating administrative gatekeeping over legitimate scientific and conservation work.
- Forfeiture provisions allow the government to seize and sell sloths without compensating the importer, even if the violation was technical or the animal's origin status was ambiguous.
- The 'separate offense' language in subsections (c)(1)(C) and (c)(2)(B) allows prosecution in multiple districts for a single importation event, potentially multiplying penalties.
- Cancellation of federal wildlife licenses is automatic upon violation, affecting a person's ability to conduct any legal wildlife import/export work, not just sloth-related activities.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects endangered wildlife from trafficking and exploitation, a public good. The restrictions fall on importers and traffickers, not on citizens' rights or protections. Legitimate research and zoo breeding programs retain access through documented exceptions.
Named in the bill
Secretary of the Interior, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (implied), Treasury Department, Lacey Act Amendments of 1981
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Oct 22, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 22, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,230 characters) on Oct 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,580 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-26.
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