Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park Ellie Schiller Homossassa Springs State Wildlife Park

Pleistohorse

Pleistohorse

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I visited the Ellie Schiller Homossassa Springs State Wildlife Park near Homossassa Springs, Florida on the morning of November 4, 2022. It was a beautiful morning. The park is somewhat divided into two sections divided by Route 490A. The east side is a traditional “wildlife refuge” for Bird Watching and Hiking. The west side is at the headwaters of the Homossassa River and is where the state maintains a small zoo exhibiting a nice collection of native Florida mammals, birds, and reptiles. This portion of the park was apparently once a privately owned zoo exhibiting exotic animals and came into the possession of the state when the zoo closed. The exotic animals were all removed, with the exception of a single Hippopotamus who is living out his life at the park and who will turn 63 in January.

The highlight of the park of course are wild Manatees who swim up the Homossassa River to winter over at the spring-fed headwaters. The park also seems to attract dozens of wild birds. I believe most of the pelicans were captive and all of the raptors with the exception of many of the Black Vultures. The Great Blue Herons, White Ibisis, Snowy Egrets, Night Herons, and Wood Storks all appeared to be wild….again with the exception of a couple of those who were confined in the Rosetta Spoonbill Aviary. For this list I count everything together. With the mammals it is a bit easier…the Grey Squirrels and the Manatees were wild, all other mammals captive (or confined at least).

The above was not intended to be a review, but it looks like we almost got there doesn’t it?

Here below is a list of species I observed at the park. Fairly comprehensive I believe, although a may have missed a couple reptile species and undercounted a couple I know I observed.

Mammals (100% accuracy):

West Indian Manatee - 6
Grey Squirrel - 3
Nile Hippopotamus - 1
Whitetail Deer - 5
Red Fox - 1
Grey Fox - 2
American (Florida) Black Bear - 1
Bobcat - 1
Florida Panther - 1

No Show -
Red Wolf
Florida Key Deer

Birds (estimate 85% accuracy. Some small songbirds were not identified, the crows were not specifically identified by species, and some species identified were likely undercounted):

Crow - 5
Wild Turkey - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Sandhill Crane - 2
Whooping Crane - 1
Great Blue Heron - 7
Black-crowned Night Heron - 4
Snowy Egret - 4
Great Egret - 3
Wood Stork - 9
White Ibis - 32
Rosetta Spoonbill - 10
Double-crested Cormorant - 1
American Flamingo - 14
Brown Pelican - 15
American White Pelican - 6
Black Vulture - 29
Turkey Vulture - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Crested Caracara - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
Osprey - 3
Burrowing Owl - 1
Barred Owl - 2
Barn Owl - 3
Great Horned Owl - 1

Reptiles (90% accuracy):

American Alligator - 1
Gopher Tortoise - 1
Eastern Musk Turtle
Florida Mud Turtle
Florida Pine Snake - 2
Gulf Hammock Rat Snake - 1
Yellow-bellied King Snake - 1
Gray Rat Snake - 1
Florida Cottonmouth - 1
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake - 1
Timber Rattlesnake - 1

No Show -
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
 
Last edited:
Pleistohorse said:
I visited the Ellie Schiller Homossassa Springs State Wildlife Park near Homossassa Springs, Florida on the morning of November 4, 2022. It was a beautiful morning. The park is somewhat divided into two sections divided by Route 490A. The east side is a traditional “wildlife refuge” for Bird Watching and Hiking. The west side is at the headwaters of the Homossassa River and is where the state maintains a small zoo exhibiting a nice collection of native Florida mammals, birds, and reptiles. This portion of the park was apparently once a privately owned zoo exhibiting exotic animals and came into the possession of the state when the zoo closed. The exotic animals were all removed, with the exception of a single Hippopotamus who is living out his life at the park and who will turn 63 in January.

The highlight of the park of course are wild Manatees who swim up the Homossassa River to winter over at the spring-fed headwaters. The park also seems to attract dozens of wild birds. I believe most of the pelicans were captive and all of the raptors with the exception of many of the Black Vultures. The Great Blue Herons, White Ibisis, Snowy Egrets, Night Herons, and Wood Storks all appeared to be wild….again with the exception of a couple of those who were confined in the Rosetta Spoonbill Aviary. For this list I count everything together. With the mammals it is a bit easier…the Grey Squirrels and the Manatees were wild, all other mammals captive (or confined at least).

The above was not intended to be a review, but it looks like we almost got there doesn’t it?

Here below is a list of species I observed at the park. Fairly comprehensive I believe, although a may have missed a couple reptile species and undercounted a couple I know I observed.

Mammals (100% accuracy):

West Indian Manatee - 6
Grey Squirrel - 3
Nile Hippopotamus - 1
Whitetail Deer - 5
Red Fox - 1
Grey Fox - 2
American (Florida) Black Bear - 1
Bobcat - 1
Florida Panther - 1

No Show -
Red Wolf
Florida Key Deer

Birds (estimate 85% accuracy. Some small songbirds were not identified, the crows were not specifically identified by species, and some species identified were likely undercounted):

Crow - 5
Wild Turkey - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Sandhill Crane - 2
Whooping Crane - 1
Great Blue Heron - 7
Black-crowned Night Heron - 4
Snowy Egret - 4
Great Egret - 3
Wood Stork - 9
White Ibis - 32
Rosetta Spoonbill - 10
Double-crested Cormorant - 1
American Flamingo - 14
Brown Pelican - 15
American White Pelican - 6
Black Vulture - 29
Turkey Vulture - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Crested Caracara - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
Osprey - 3
Burrowing Owl - 1
Barred Owl - 2
Barn Owl - 3
Great Horned Owl - 1

Reptiles (90% accuracy):

American Alligator - 1
Gopher Tortoise - 1
Eastern Musk Turtle
Florida Mud Turtle
Florida Pine Snake - 2
Gulf Hammock Rat Snake - 1
Yellow-bellied King Snake - 1
Gray Rat Snake - 1
Florida Cottonmouth - 1
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake - 1
Timber Rattlesnake - 1

No Show -
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Click to expand...

Do you know the Nile Hippo's name and/or history? I would guess the facility would have some sort of signage to talk about why he's here.
 
Lucifer or Lu, was captive bred at SDZ in 1960. He came to Homosassa back when it was a zoo owned by Ivan Tor, a film maker and animal trainer. Lu was in several movies including Daktari and Cowboy in Africa. When the zoo was going to shutdown, local residents petitioned for Lu to stay and in fact the governor at the time made him a legal Florida resident so he could stay. He will turn 63 next month, easily making him one of the oldest hippos currently alive. (I thought I had a picture of the sign by his enclosure but clearly have read it enough times it wasn't necessary lol).

Side note, one of the more interesting species kept at Homosassa when it was a zoo were Boto. There are still pics floating around on the internet
 
It is a pretty cool place, worth a stop if you are in the area for a bit. Wolves were a no-show for me as well when we went back in March. The reptile house was a surprise to me, I knew they had a decent mammal area, but I did not know about the reptiles. The underwater/springs viewing area is pretty cool, it is a sunken structure you climb down into that views the springs under water.
 
Thanks for the review and the list of species. The hippo is a legend and so was Ivan Tors. It's remarkable that the hippo is still alive after all these years.
 
They must have gotten new wolves over the last few years because I haven't seen them my last couple of visits. Previously they were always a sure thing to see.

The reptile house used to be even more impressive. On my last visit several of the enclosures were boarded up and they no longer had a juvenile American croc.

For a long time I considered Homosassa Wildlife Park the best native Florida collection in the state. A former resident of the park, Don Juan, a Florida panther was one my favorite individuals to see. He was a prolific breeder (in the wild) and FWC essentially retired him to the park. He very much showed he spent quite some time outside of captivity. He has since passed away
 
Smaggledagle said:
Do you know the Nile Hippo's name and/or history? I would guess the facility would have some sort of signage to talk about why he's here.
Click to expand...
Some more things to add about the hippo:
Lu was born on January 26th, 1960 at the San Diego Zoo to Rube and Lotus (and was inbred because Lotus was Rube's daughter). On October 30th, 1961, Lu moved to the now-defunct Miami Rare Bird Farm, and he moved to Homosassa on February 19th, 1966 at the age of six years, where he has remained ever since. Lu has had the sad distinction of being alone since his move to Miami. :(
 
PSO said:
Side note, one of the more interesting species kept at Homosassa when it was a zoo were Boto. There are still pics floating around on the internet
Click to expand...
I am having trouble finding anything and am very interested in this as I had not heard that before, can you guide me anywhere?
 
I am also having trouble finding them as well. Let me ask the someone who first told me about it
 
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