Everglades National Park is a United States national park that protects the southern 20% of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the biggest tropical wilderness area in the United States and the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River. About one million people visit the park each year. Everglades is the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States, after Death Valley and Yellowstone. It became a national park in 1947. UNESCO named the Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979. The Ramsar Convention added the park to its list of Wetlands of International Importance in 1987. Everglades is one of only three places in the world that are on all three lists.
Most national parks protect special land features; Everglades National Park was the first created to protect a delicate ecosystem. The Everglades are a mix of wetlands and forests that get water from a river flowing 0.25 miles (0.40 km) per day from Lake Okeechobee, southwest into Florida Bay. The park is the most important place for tropical wading birds to breed in North America and has the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere. Thirty-six threatened or protected species live in the park, including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee. The park also has 350 bird species, 300 fish species, 40 mammal species, and 50 reptile species. Most of South Florida’s fresh water, stored in the Biscayne Aquifer, is refilled in the park.
People have lived in or near the Everglades for thousands of years. In 1882, plans were made to drain the wetlands and use the land for farming and homes. As the 20th century began, water from Lake Okeechobee was controlled and redirected to support the fast-growing Miami area. The park was created in 1934 to protect the quickly disappearing Everglades and was officially dedicated in 1947, as major canal projects started across South Florida. The ecosystems in Everglades National Park have been greatly harmed by human activity, and restoring the Everglades is a topic that causes disagreement among people in South Florida.
Geography
Everglades National Park covers about 1.5 million acres in Dade, Monroe, and Collier counties in Florida, which is in southern Florida near the Atlantic Ocean. The land is usually between 0 and 8 feet above sea level. However, there is a hill made of shells built by the Calusa people that is 20 feet above sea level.
Geology
The terrain of South Florida is mostly flat and even. The limestone beneath the Everglades is important for the different ecosystems in the park. Florida was once part of the African landmass in the supercontinent Gondwana. After Gondwana broke apart, conditions allowed a shallow ocean to deposit calcium carbonate from sand, shells, and coral, which formed limestone. Tiny pieces of shell, sand, and bryozoans pressed together in layers created small, round structures in the limestone called ooids. These structures made the limestone porous, allowing it to hold water.
The Florida peninsula rose above sea level between 100,000 and 150,000 years ago. As sea levels increased at the end of the Wisconsin ice age, the water table was closer to the land surface. Lake Okeechobee began to flood, which led to the formation of convection thunderstorms. Large peat deposits south of Lake Okeechobee show that regular flooding happened around 5,000 years ago. Plants began to move, with subtropical species from northern Florida and tropical plants brought by birds from Caribbean islands. The limestone shelf appears flat, but it has small rises, called pinnacles, and depressions caused by the erosion of limestone by acidic water.
The amount of time water is present in an area of the Everglades determines the type of soil. There are two main soil types in the Everglades: peat, formed from years of decaying plant material, and marl, created from dried periphyton—clusters of algae and microorganisms that form grayish mud. Areas of the Everglades that stay flooded for more than nine months of the year are usually covered by peat. Areas that are flooded for six months or less are covered by marl. Plant communities depend on the soil type and the amount of water available.
Climate
The Köppen climate classification system shows that Royal Palm in Everglades National Park has a tropical monsoon climate (Am). Summers are long, hot, and very rainy, while winters are warm and dry. Scientists have noticed that freshwater areas inside Everglades National Park are experiencing rising water levels at the same rate as sea levels in the region. This shows that the park's low-lying freshwater areas are at risk from climate change and saltwater moving into these regions.
Hydrography
Underground springs do not supply water to the Everglades, even though they are common in northern Florida. An underground water storage system called the Floridan aquifer is located about 1,000 feet (300 m) below the surface of South Florida. The Everglades can hold a large amount of water because the exposed land is covered by permeable limestone, which allows water to pass through easily. Most of the water in the Everglades comes from rainfall, and much of it is stored in the limestone. Water that evaporates from the Everglades becomes rain over nearby cities, helping to provide fresh water for the region. Water also flows into the Everglades after falling as rain in the north. It travels through the watersheds of the Kissimmee River and other sources of Lake Okeechobee, reaching the Everglades days later. Water from Lake Okeechobee overflows into a river that is 40 to 70 miles (64 to 113 km) wide. This river moves very slowly.
Ecosystems
At the start of the 20th century, people usually thought national parks should protect large geological features like mountains, geysers, or canyons. As Florida’s population grew and cities near the Everglades expanded, those who wanted to create a park faced challenges in convincing the federal government and Florida residents that the Everglades’ delicate and changing ecosystems were just as important to protect. When the park was created in 1947, it became the first area in the United States to focus on protecting native plants and animals instead of geological scenery. The National Park Service identifies nine different ecosystems within the park that change in size based on water levels and other environmental conditions.
Freshwater sloughs are the most common ecosystem in Everglades National Park. These are low-lying areas filled with slow-moving fresh water that flows about 100 feet (30 meters) per day. These slow-moving channels are not just part of the landscape but form a pattern with parallel ridges of higher ground. The steady flow of water from Lake Okeechobee historically shaped this ridge-and-slough pattern, deepening the sloughs and building peat ridges with sediment and organic material. Shark River Slough and Taylor Slough are major features of the park. Sawgrass, which can grow up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, and broad-leafed marsh plants are so common in this area that the Everglades became known as the "River of Grass." This nickname came from Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s book (1947), which highlighted the Everglades as more than just a swamp. Sloughs provide excellent food sources for birds, attracting waders like herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills (Platalea ajaja), ibises, and brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis), as well as limpkins (Aramus guarauna) and snail kites that eat apple snails. These snails feed on sawgrass. Fish, amphibians, and young birds in sloughs also attract freshwater turtles, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), Florida cottonmouths (Agkistrodon conanti), and eastern diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus).
Freshwater marl prairies are similar to sloughs but lack the slow surface water flow. Instead, water seeps through calcitic mud called marl. Algae and other tiny organisms form periphyton, which attaches to limestone. When this dries, it becomes gray mud. Sawgrass and other water plants grow shorter in marl prairies than in peat, the other soil type in the Everglades, where water stays longer. Marl prairies are usually underwater for three to seven months of the year, while sloughs may remain submerged for more than nine months or even a full year. Sawgrass often dominates sloughs, creating a monoculture. Other grasses, such as muhly grass (Muhlenbergia sericea) and broad-leafed water plants, grow in marl prairies. Animals that live in sloughs also live in marl prairies. During dry seasons, parts of marl prairies may dry up, and alligators help sustain life by digging burrows in the mud. These burrows hold water, allowing fish and amphibians to survive until the wet season returns. When the area floods again, these animals repopulate the marl prairies.
Hammocks are the only dry land in the park. They rise slightly above the grassy river and are covered with a mix of subtropical and tropical trees, such as large southern live oaks (Quercus virginiana). Trees often form canopies where animals live among scrub bushes of wild coffee (Psychotria), white indigoberry (Randia aculeata), poisonwood (Metopium toxiferum), and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). The park has thousands of these tree islands, which often appear teardrop-shaped when viewed from above (see park map) due to the slow-moving water around them. They can also be found in pinelands and mangroves. Trees in the Everglades, such as wild tamarind (Lysiloma latisiliquum) and gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba), rarely grow taller than 50 feet (15 meters) because of wind, fire, and climate.
The dense plant growth around hammocks makes it hard to move through. Under the tree canopies, hammocks provide ideal habitats for animals. Reptiles, such as various snakes and anoles, and amphibians, like the American green tree frog (Hyla cinerea), live in hardwood hammocks. Birds such as barred owls (Strix varia), woodpeckers, northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), and southern bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus) nest in hammock trees. Mammals living in hardwood hammocks include Florida black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), minks (Neogale vison), marsh rabbits (Sylvilagus palustris), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and the rare, critically endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor couguar).
Miami-Dade County once had 186,000 acres (290.6 square miles; 752.7 square kilometers) of pine rockland forests, but most were cut down by the lumber industry. Pineland ecosystems (or pine rocklands) are defined by shallow, dry sandy soil over limestone, covered almost entirely by slash pines (Pinus elliottii var
Human history
Humans probably first lived in the South Florida area 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. Two Native American tribes lived on the southern tip of the peninsula: the Tequesta on the east and the Calusa, who had more people, on the west. The Everglades acted as a natural border between them. The Tequesta lived in one large community near the mouth of the Miami River, while the Calusa lived in 30 villages. Both groups moved through the Everglades but rarely lived there, staying mostly along the coast.
Both tribes ate mostly shellfish, fish, small animals, game, and wild plants. Because they had only soft limestone to work with, their tools were made of shell, bone, wood, and animal teeth. Shark teeth were used as cutting tools, and sharpened reeds became arrows and spears. Shell mounds still exist in the park today, showing archaeologists and anthropologists what materials were available for making tools. Spanish explorers estimated the Tequesta population at about 800 and the Calusa at about 2,000 when they first met the Europeans. The National Park Service says there were likely about 20,000 Native people living in or near the Everglades when the Spanish made contact in the late 1500s. The Calusa had different levels of society and built canals, earthworks, and shell structures. They also resisted Spanish attempts to conquer them.
The Spanish made contact with these groups and built missions farther north, near Lake Okeechobee. In the 1700s, the Creeks took in the remaining Tequesta people. By 1800, neither the Tequesta nor the Calusa tribes existed anymore. Disease, war, and capture for slavery caused their disappearance. The only evidence of their existence in the park today is a series of shell mounds built by the Calusa.
In the early 1800s, people called Spanish Indians and Muspas by white Americans lived in southern Florida. At the same time, the Creeks, escaped African slaves, and other Native people from northern Florida who were displaced by the Creek War formed the Seminole nation. After the Seminole Wars ended in 1842, the Seminoles were forced to move to Indian Territory near Oklahoma. A few hundred Seminole hunters and scouts stayed in what is now Big Cypress National Preserve to avoid being moved west. Some Spanish Indians were also sent to Indian Territory with the Seminoles. From 1859 to about 1930, the Seminoles and Miccosukee lived in isolation, earning a living through trade. In 1928, the Tamiami Trail was built along the northern edge of Everglades National Park. This road cut through the Everglades, bringing more white settlers into the area.
Some members of the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes still live within the park today. Park management includes letting tribal representatives help decide new policies and procedures, as long as they do not conflict with the park’s purpose.
After the Seminole Wars, Americans began settling along the coast in what is now the park, from the Ten Thousand Islands to Cape Sable. Communities grew on the two largest dry areas, Chokoloskee Island and Flamingo on Cape Sable, both of which had post offices in the early 1890s. Chokoloskee Island is a shell mound built over thousands of years by the Calusa. The settlements in Chokoloskee and Flamingo became trading centers for farmers, fishermen, and charcoal burners living in the Ten Thousand Islands. These settlements and smaller homes could only be reached by boat until the early 1900s. Everglades City, on the mainland near Chokoloskee, became briefly prosperous when it was the headquarters for building the Tamiami Trail from 1920 to 1922. A dirt road reached Flamingo in 1922, and a causeway connected Chokoloskee to Everglades City in 1956.
After the park was created, the government took over private land in the Flamingo area through eminent domain and made it a visitor center.
In the 1880s, several attempts were made to drain and develop the Everglades. Early canals had little effect on the ecosystem because they could not drain much water. In 1904, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward ran for governor, promising that drainage would create "The Empire of the Everglades." Between 1905 and 1910, drainage projects were completed successfully enough that land developers sold plots for $30 per acre. This led to the founding of Davie and development in Lee and Dade counties. The canals also cleared water for sugarcane fields.
In the 1920s, a population boom in South Florida led to the Florida land boom, which was called "insanity" by author Michael Grunwald. Land was sold before homes or plans were built, and new owners rushed to build on drained land. Mangrove trees were cut down for better views and replaced with shallow-rooted palm trees. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built larger canals to control water levels. However, Lake Okeechobee continued to rise and fall, and city planners struggled with flooding. The 1926 Miami Hurricane caused levees around Lake Okeechobee to fail, drowning hundreds of people. Two years later, the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane killed 2,500 people when the lake overflowed its levees. Politicians who said the Everglades were uninhabitable were silenced when a four-story wall, the Herbert Hoover Dike, was built around Lake Okeechobee. This wall blocked water from the Everglades.
After the wall was built, South Florida faced a severe drought in 1939, causing wildfires. Human activity harmed the region’s plants and animals when melaleuca trees and Australian pines were introduced for drainage and windbreaks. Timber was cut for lumber, and alligators, birds, frogs, and fish were hunted heavily. Wading bird rookeries were destroyed for their feathers, which were used in women’s hats. The biggest impact was diverting water away from the Everglades. Canals were deepened and widened, lowering water levels and disrupting food webs. Saltwater replaced freshwater in the canals
Park history
Floridians who wanted to protect part of the Everglades started showing concern about the area’s shrinking resources in the early 1900s. Royal Palm State Park was created in 1916 to protect Paradise Key. It had trails and a visitor center near Homestead. In 1923, naturalists from Miami suggested the area become a national park. Five years later, the Florida legislature formed the Tropical Everglades National Park Commission to study how to create a protected area. Ernest F. Coe, a land developer who later became a conservationist, led the commission. He was called the “Father of Everglades National Park.” Coe’s original plan included over 2,000,000 acres, such as Key Largo and Big Cypress. His refusal to compromise nearly stopped the park’s creation. Other groups, like land developers and hunters, wanted the park’s size reduced.
The commission also needed to find money to buy land. This search happened during the Great Depression, when money was scarce. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the park’s creation in 1934, but the law passed only with a rule that no money would be given for the project for five years. Coe’s efforts and Senator Spessard Holland’s work helped establish the park. Holland negotiated to include 1,300,000 acres, excluding areas like Big Cypress, Key Largo, and a land area called “The Hole in the Donut.” Miami Herald editor John Pennekamp pushed the Florida Legislature to raise $2 million to buy private land inside the park. President Harry Truman dedicated the park on December 6, 1947, one month after Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s book The Everglades: River of Grass was published. That same year, tropical storms hit South Florida, leading to the construction of 1,400 miles of canals to move water away from farms and homes.
The Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project (C&SF) was created by Congress to build canals and flood control structures across South Florida. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an agricultural area south of Lake Okeechobee and three water conservation areas, all surrounded by canals that redirected water to cities or the ocean. Everglades National Park, now separated from its water source, began to suffer by the 1960s. The C&SF was supposed to provide water for the park but failed to do so. A proposed airport that would harm the park sparked environmental activism and led to efforts to protect the area. The airport plan was later canceled, and in 1972, a bill was passed to limit development and ensure the park received enough water. By 1990, the Army Corps of Engineers shifted its focus from building dams and canals to environmental projects.
Areas Coe originally wanted in the park were added over time to the park or other protected areas, such as Biscayne National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Everglades National Park became an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. In 1978, 86% of the park was declared a wilderness area, later named the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness in 1997. The park was listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list from 1993 to 2007 and again in 2010 due to environmental damage like algal blooms.
In 1989, President George H. W. Bush signed the Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act, adding 109,506 acres to the park, banning airboats, and directing water restoration efforts. He said the law would help restore the “river of grass” to its natural flow. In 2000, Congress approved the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), aiming to restore the ecosystem while meeting water needs. However, CERP faces challenges from competing interests, including federal and state agencies, farmers, developers, and environmental groups. Some critics argue the plan relies on unproven technology and delays benefits, while supporters, like the National Audubon Society, are accused of favoring agriculture and business. CERP’s goal includes restoring water flow to protect ecosystems, such as fisheries in Florida Bay, which depend on natural water levels. Hydrologic projects in western Everglades have shown mixed results in improving water quality. CERP plans to store 1.7 billion gallons of fresh water daily in underground reservoirs and release it to 16 South Florida counties. About 35,600 acres of man-made wetlands are part of the plan.
Activities
The busiest time for visitors to the park is from December to March, when temperatures are coldest and mosquitoes are least active. The park has five visitor centers: the Shark Valley Visitor Center is located on the Tamiami Trail (part of U.S. Route 41) directly west of Miami. A fifteen-mile (24 km) round trip path leads from this center to a two-story observation tower. Tram tours are available during the busy season. Closest to Homestead on State Road 9336 is the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, where a 38-mile (61 km) road begins. This road winds through pine rockland, cypress, freshwater marl prairie, coastal prairie, and mangrove ecosystems. Various hiking trails are accessible from the road, which runs to the Guy Bradley Visitor Center and marina at Flamingo, open and staffed during the busier time of the year. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center is closest to Everglades City on State Road 29 along the west coast. This center gives canoers access to the Wilderness Waterway, a 99-mile (160 km) canoe trail that extends to the Visitor Center at Flamingo. The former Royal Palm State Park was the site of the first Everglades National Park visitor center and later became the Royal Palm Visitor Center within the park. The western coast of the park and the Ten Thousand Islands and various key islands in Florida Bay are accessible only by boat.
Several walking trails in the park vary in difficulty on Pine Island, where visitors can cross hardwood hammocks, pinelands, and freshwater sloughs. Starting at the Royal Palm Visitor Center, the Anhinga Trail is a half-mile self-guided tour through a sawgrass marsh where visitors can see alligators, marsh and wading birds, turtles, and bromeliads. Its proximity to Homestead and accessibility make it one of the most visited sites in the park. The nearby Gumbo Limbo Trail is also self-guided and half a mile long. It loops through a canopy of hardwood hammocks that include gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), royal palms (Roystonea), strangler figs (Ficus aurea), and a variety of epiphytes.
Twenty-eight miles (45 km) of trails start near the Long Pine Key campgrounds and wind through Long Pine Key, well-suited for off-road cycling through the pine rocklands in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness. Two boardwalks allow visitors to walk through a cypress forest at Pa-Hay-O-Kee, which also features a two-story overlook, and another at Mahogany Hammock (referring to Swietenia mahagoni) that takes hikers through a dense forest in the middle of a freshwater marl prairie. Closer to Flamingo, more rugged trails take visitors through mangrove swamps and along Florida Bay. Christian Point Trail, Snake Bight Trail, Rowdy Bend Trail, and Coastal Prairie Trail allow viewing of shorebirds and wading birds among the mangroves. Portions of the trails may be impassable depending on the time of year because of mosquitoes and water levels. Ranger-led tours take place only during the busier season.
Camping is available year-round in Everglades National Park. Camping with some services is available at Long Pine Key, close to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, where 108 sites are accessible by car. Near Flamingo, 234 campsites with some services are also available. Recreational vehicle camping is available at these sites, but not with all necessary services. Back-country permits are required for campsites along the Wilderness Waterway, Gulf Coast sites, and sites in the various keys. Several back-country sites are chickees; others are beach and ground sites.
Low-powered motorboats are allowed in the park; the majority of salt water areas are no-wake zones to protect manatees and other marine animals from harm. Jet skis, airboats, and other motorized personal watercraft are prohibited. Many trails allow kayaks and canoes. A state license is required for fishing. Fresh water licenses are not sold in the park, but a salt water license may be available. Swimming is not recommended within the park boundaries; water moccasins, snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), alligators, and crocodiles thrive in fresh water. Sharks, barracuda, and sharp dangerous coral are plentiful in salt water. Visibility is low in both salt water and fresh water areas.
Everglades National Park is an important part of the Great Florida Birding Trail. It has great biodiversity and many species of birds for bird watching and bird photography.
- The campground at Flamingo
- Black skimmers at Flamingo campground
Portions of Everglades National Park are ideal for dark sky observations in South Florida. The best viewing locations are in the remote southern and western areas of the Everglades, such as Flamingo and the Ten Thousand Islands. The Milky Way appears brightest when looking south, toward the least light-polluted areas.
From 2006 to 2024, light pollution levels in parts of the Everglades have shown minimal change, with the Sky Quality Meter (SQM) reading decreasing from 21.54 to 21.31 and the Bortle Scale shifting from 4.1 to 4.3, indicating relatively effective protection against light pollution.
Threats to the park and ecology
Less than half of the Everglades that existed before drainage projects are still in their original condition today. Wading bird populations decreased by 90% from their original numbers between the 1940s and 2000s. The biggest threat to Everglades National Park is the redirection of water to South Florida’s growing cities. Between the 1950s and 1960s, 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) of canals, levees, 150 gates and spillways, and 16 pumping stations were built to move water toward cities and away from the Everglades. Low water levels make fish easier prey for reptiles and birds. When sawgrass dries, it can burn or die, which harms apple snails and other animals that wading birds eat. Bird populations change over time. In 2009, the South Florida Water Management District reported a 335% increase in wading birds across South Florida. However, the Miami Herald noted in 2009 that wading bird numbers in the park dropped by 29% after three years of growth.
Cities on Florida’s west coast rely on desalinization to get fresh water because the land cannot supply enough. High levels of nitrates and mercury in underground water also harm the quality of water the park receives. In 1998, a Florida panther was found dead in Shark Water Slough. Mercury levels in its body were high enough to be lethal to a human. More frequent algal blooms and red tide in Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay are linked to water released from Lake Okeechobee. A park brochure states, “Freshwater flowing into the park is engineered. Pumps, floodgates, and retention ponds help keep the Everglades alive, but it is now weakened.” The park has a Hydrologic Monitoring Program that tracks water quantity, timing, distribution, and quality to guide restoration and evaluate ecosystem health.
Levees on the park’s eastern border separate urban areas from protected land. However, continued development near the park stresses its water balance and ecosystems. Florida gains nearly 1,000 new residents daily, and building residential, commercial, and industrial zones near the park harms its environment. On the western border, cities like Fort Myers, Naples, and Cape Coral are growing, but no levees mark this boundary. National Geographic gave Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve the lowest scores in North America (32 out of 100) due to issues like housing and retail development harming the ecosystem. Experts said, “Encroachment by development has damaged the ecosystem. If humans do not stop expanding, one of the country’s most important natural areas may be lost.” Increased urban growth also worsens air pollution, which harms plants, aquatic life, and wildlife in the park.
Climate change, especially rising sea levels, poses a long-term threat to the Everglades. The park’s low elevation makes it vulnerable to saltwater intrusion. When saltwater mixes with freshwater, it harms sawgrass marshes and freshwater forests like dwarf cypress strands and marl prairies. These changes threaten species like wading birds, the endangered Everglades snail kite, and the Florida panther. As saltwater moves inland, maintaining the right amount and timing of freshwater becomes harder. Florida’s climate is unpredictable, with extreme rainfall and frequent storms that affect water resources. Changes in precipitation, droughts, and storms alter groundwater and surface water availability, which impacts the amount and timing of freshwater reaching the Everglades. These changes increase saltwater intrusion into aquifers and estuaries, further harming freshwater ecosystems.
Thirty-six federally protected animals live in the park, some of which are at risk of extinction. The American crocodile’s only habitat is in South Florida. Once hunted for their hides, they are now protected but still face threats like habitat loss and vehicle collisions. About 2,000 crocodiles live in Florida, with around 100 nests in the Everglades and Biscayne National Parks. Crocodile numbers have increased, as have alligator numbers. In 2007, crocodiles were reclassified from “endangered” to “threatened” in the United States.
The Florida panther is one of the most endangered mammals in the world. About 230 live in the wild, mostly in the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. Threats include habitat loss, vehicle collisions, inbreeding, parasites, diseases, and mercury poisoning.
Four sea turtle species in the Everglades—Atlantic green, Atlantic hawksbill, Atlantic loggerhead, and Atlantic ridley—are endangered. The leatherback sea turtle is also threatened. It is hard to count these turtles because males and juveniles do not return to their birthplace, but females lay eggs in the same location each year. The main threats are habitat loss, illegal hunting, and harmful fishing practices.
The Cape Sable seaside sparrow lives only in Everglades National Park and Big Cypress Swamp. In 1981, 6,656 sparrows were counted, but by 2002, numbers dropped to about 2,624. Restoring natural water levels in the park has been controversial because rising water may harm sparrow nests and the endangered snail kite, which relies on apple snails for food. The Everglades snail kite is an endangered bird that depends on wetlands. Changes in water levels and patterns affect its habitat and movements across Florida’s wetlands.