characteristic animals of Florida

One of the most characteristic animals of Florida is the alligator and when you visit Orlando, you can close these creatures, they learn more and have fun by visiting Gatorland.

Gatorland is a 110 acre theme park and nature preserve. It began as a small exhibition along the road in 1949 and has grown into a state of the art theme park, which proudly calls itself "the alligator capital of the world." Gator Country was founded by the late Owen Godwin, and it is still a family business today.

The park of course alligators, but it is also home to other attractions and includes crocodiles, an aviary, a breeding ground swamp, a petting zoo, a nature walk, educational wildlife programs, gift shop and the Gator Gully Splash Park.

Gator Country is not only one of the many theme parks in Orlando rather it is one of the pioneers of the tourist attractions in Central Florida. Although officially founded in 1949, it actually dates back to the 1930s when Godwin's father built an alligator pit in his backyard and his mother sold trinkets alligator on shoppers from the warehouse of the family. After the war began in earnest about a 16 acre parcel has become the current park 110.

There is also some serious science done on Gator Country next to the fun and entertainment. Gatorland is the only place worldwide where alligators are artificially inseminated successfully. Captive alligators are generally suffer from disease, infertility and death as embryos, but Gatorland with the University of Florida have developed new techniques for breeding alligators, hatching of eggs and of the nature of an environment where alligators thrive.

Alligators are not the only attraction here, their larger cousins the crocodiles have a place of honor in the attraction called "Jungle Crocs of the World." These two houses an acre display of the largest exhibitions in the world of giant crocodiles in captivity. The Jungle Crocs' natural design allows the animals to grow more than 20 ft long and weigh more than a ton. While one can rarely get to see crocodiles in the wild, this unprecedented exhibit characteristics most ruthless predator of the word burst out of the water and hunt their prey on the frightened country.

In addition to the alligators and crocodiles, Gator Country is home to thousands of waterfowl, birds nest above the marsh. Alligators protect the nests from natural predators such as raccoons and opossums and Gatorland is one of the few places in the world where visitors can see short distances, endangered wading birds build nests and raise their young.

In the past ten years, the park is actually a 110 acre "classroom" with a wide range of training classes alligators, wading birds, snakes and Florida swamp.

Gatorland is one of the iconic, must-not-miss attractions of Orlando and a visit makes a great half day outing for the whole family