CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo is honoring a local child who passed away earlier this year by naming a sloth habitat in his honor. 

What You Need To Know

  • Oliver Nicholson would have turned 2 years old this week

  • He passed away earlier this year from complications during surgery stemming from the disorder VACTERL association

  • Nicholson loved sloths, so his parents started a petition for the zoo to rename a baby sloth in his honor, which has since received more than 80,000 signatures

  • After the sloth had been stillborn, the zoo decided to rename the entire habitat after Oliver

Oliver Nicholson, who was born premature with his twin, Atticus, on Oct. 11, 2019, was diagnosed the condition VACTERL association. The disorder affects around one per 10,000 to 40,000 live births, impacting many of the body's systems from functioning normally. 

Then on Feb. 17, 2021, he passed away from complications of surgery. He would have turned 2 years old Monday. 

Since his death, community members have been asking the zoo to honor him. Nicholson loved sloths and had a stuffed one by his side most of the time. His parents, Alex and Alyssa, started a petition to ask the zoo to name a baby sloth after him.

But earlier this week, the zoo announced the sloth had been stillborn. 

Instead, officials decided to memorialize Nicholson in a different way by renaming its sloth habitat to The Oliver Nicholson Memorial Sloth Habitat. 

“We had been in contact with the zoo and had discussed other ways that we could honor Oliver,” said Alex Nicholson. “This tribute will be lasting and means so much. It gives us a huge bright spot on an especially difficult day and some positive news to share with the 80,000 people who signed our petition.”

The mother of the sloth baby, Lightning, is currently in the Zoo’s Animal Ambassador Center. Officials said she will be reunited with Moe, her 22-year-old companion, in The Oliver Nicholson Memorial Sloth Habitat at some point in the future. 

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