I'm quite sure it was stated that the sliding was for the player models and animal models to keep up with the 'True Position' they were at and is just animation failing.
I haven't seen a desync problem. My tribe members and I update accordingly on each others monitors, with the slide.
Running on the spot then warping to your location vs sliding to your true location is imo better.
Prolly could do with a few more teaks and some animations fixes on this new slide problem :P.