RATING: ♦♦♦+
Some friends told us about this park, plus we had heard that it was a good place to view manatees during the winter when it is cold outside. Manatees are warm blooded and they cannot survive in temperatures below 60 degrees, so they congregate in warm spring-fed waters like those that are found at Homosassa. There were only a few manatees at the park when we visited because warmer temperatures had arrived in Florida, so the manatees had headed back out into the gulf.
The park is also a rehab center for injured and orphaned manatees as well as other native Florida animals, such as black bear, Florida panther, bobcats, alligators, gray fox, and otters. Many varieties of birds also live at the park. Most of the animals and birds living at Homosassa Springs cannot survive in the wild.
Lu, the 58-year-old African hippo, is the one misfit in the park. He lived at the park in its early days when it was an exotic animal attraction. When the state of Florida purchased the park, Lu was allowed to stay.