What are 10 facts about the Everglades? (2023)

How much of the Everglades are left?

Since 1900 much of the Everglades has been drained for agriculture and urban development, so that today only 50 percent of the origi- nal wetlands remain. Water levels and patterns of water flow are largely controlled by an extensive system of levees and canals.

This Everglades has been around for 5,000 years! The original Everglades used to reach all the way from the Orlando area to Florida Bay. It was a big wilderness of wetlands containing sawgrass marshes, freshwater sloughs, mangrove swamps, pine rocklands and hardwood hammocks.

The Everglades provides important habitat for numerous species like the manatee, American crocodile and the elusive Florida panther. The park has long been a birder's paradise -- it is the winter home of more than 360 different species of birds. Check out tips for staying safe while viewing wildlife.

When the early explorers first viewed the Everglades long ago, they saw large fields of grass. Ever from the word forever & Glades which is an old English word that means a grassy open place. The Native Americans who lived here named it Pa-hay-Okee which translates into "grassy waters."

The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm.

There are only two everglades in the world – one in Florida and one near Noosa in Queensland, Australia.

Learn more about the people that have lived and worked in the Everglades. Seminole Indians south of the Tamiami Trail. Before the Spanish arrived in 1513, the region in south Florida that is now the Everglades National Park was largely inhabited by the Calusa Indians.

Bull sharks, known as one of the most aggressive species of shark can be found living in the Everglades freshwater, and are known for cruising the river mouths, coastlines, and estuarine areas for smaller prey.

Today, the Miccosukee mostly live a modern lifestyle, but still find ways to preserve their heritage. Some are skilled alligator wrestlers. Others honor the past by lending their voices to calls for the preservation and conservation of The Everglades.

Who saved the Everglades?

Marjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890 – May 14, 1998) was an American journalist, author, women's suffrage advocate, and conservationist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development.

In a typical year, the Everglades has a period of intense rains which we call our Wet Season. The wet season starts around the middle of May and continues through to November with the last major storms.

Over the last decade, snakes from around the world have been turning up in Everglades National Park. The Burmese python is the best known and most problematic of these snakes.

The Everglades is a unique treasure found in South Florida. The Everglades is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United States. It consists of 1.5 million acres of saw grass marshes, mangrove forests, and hardwood hammocks dominated by wetlands. It is home to endangered, rare, and exotic wildlife.

Constant development on surrounding lands cause further issues for endangered animals like these. The Everglades is shallow. The water in the Everglades is only on average around 4 to 5 feet deep and the deepest point is around 9 feet.

The Everglades is a large region of freshwater marsh land that originally extended from Lake Okeechobee south to the tip of peninsular Florida.

Swimming/Snorkeling is prohibited in all canals, ponds, freshwater lakes, marked channels, and boat basins inside the park.

These waterways move at about 100 feet (30 meters) per day, according to the National Park Service (NPS). The two main sloughs in the Everglades are Shark River Slough, also called the "River of Grass," and the smaller Taylor Slough, which lies to the east. Both discharge into Florida Bay.

The monkeys live in mangroves in the Everglades. However, it is another far less expected animal invasion that has scientists asking questions after a large colony of non-native monkeys set up home in the Sunshine State.

Where do the Everglades start?

The Everglades are subtropical wetlands whose fresh water system begins near Orlando in the Kissimmee River. The water moves from the Kissimmee River to the shallow Lake Okeechobee, which averages 12 feet deep and covers 730 square miles.

Threats & Conservation

The Everglades is being threatened by numerous plants and animals that were introduced both on purpose and by accident. Some introduced species become a small part of the landscape, while others thrive at the expense of native plants and wildlife.

Some of that submerged land is also owned by the federal government, which owns more than 4 million acres of Florida's land area, mostly in the Everglades, Big Cypress National Park and Dry Tortugas Park. Local governments own more than half a million acres of the more than 12 million publicly owned lands in Florida.

The Florida Everglades in south Florida is one of the world's most unique and fragile ecosystems. Often thought of as a swamp, the Glades are actually a slow-moving river flowing over an area 40 miles wide by 100 miles long, from the south shore of Lake Okeechobee to the mangrove estuaries of Florida Bay.

There are only two everglades systems in the world, including the Noosa Everglades and the Florida Everglades. But ours is the only one representing an ancient waterway that has existed unchanged for thousands of years, courtesy of the Noosa Biosphere project.

There are only two everglades systems in the world – one in Florida and one near Noosa in Queensland, Australia.

The Everglades are typically hot and humid from May through November. Temperatures reach average highs of 90°F, with humidity over 90%, and a heat index of over 100°F.

The Everglades is a unique landscape, unlike any other in the world. Only the Everglades combines a subtropical climate, numerous distinct habitat types and an extraordinary array of species in such a diverse, yet vulnerable ecosystem.

There are approximately 3,000 crocodiles living in the swamps of South Florida, which is a positive change from the hundreds that remained in the 1970s.

Are anacondas in Everglades?

Florida Distribution

Green anacondas have had relatively few sightings in Florida with a majority of them found around central and north central Florida. They have been reported as far north and Gainesville and as far south as Miami near Everglades City.

Black bears are the kind people will spot in the Everglades and south Florida. While in the Everglades, there is a chance you will catch a site of a bear; they can be spotted in forested sloughs and oak scrub. Florida black bears have an average 300 pounds though they can get up to 500 pounds in weight.

"There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth, remote, never wholly known.

It has been estimated that about 39 threatened species, 300 fish species, 50 reptilian species, 360 avian species, and 40 mammalian species are found in the Everglades National Park.

The destruction and drainage of the Florida Everglades date back to the 19th century. Most people assume that when the settlers planted their roots here they began to drain the Everglades. Actually, it was the United States military that began draining the Everglades to try and flush out the Seminole Indians.

The fire, which is 10% contained, started about 11 p.m. Monday when lightning struck an area 2 miles north of Alligator Alley and 6 miles west of U.S. 27, according to David Rosenbaum, public information officer and mitigation specialist for the Everglades District of the Florida Forest Service.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who became known as "The Mother of the Everglades" was born and grew up far from the wilds of Florida. Douglas was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 7, 1890, and moved with her parents, Frank and Lillian Stoneman, to Providence, Rhode Island in 1893.

The Everglades is home to so many mammals including felines like the bobcat. Bobcats are one of two native cat species that call southern Florida their home. Bobcats are common in Everglades unlike the Florida panther.

Perhaps one of the most majestic and beloved animals that reside in the Everglades is the elusive Florida Panther, the official state animal of Florida.

Florida panthers and bobcats are the only two wild cats found in Florida and panthers are by far the larger of the two.

What do animals eat in the Everglades?

In the Everglades, producers – mostly plants – produce energy and nutrients from the sun or through a chemical reaction. Then, herbivorous consumers – turtles, deer, and others – eat those plants for sustenance. In turn, the carnivores, most notably the alligator, hunt and eat those herbivores.

Pinelands. Pinelands of the Everglades are dominated by Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii), often with a saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) understory and limestone substrate. Cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus), cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus) and rice rats (Oryzomys palustris) are common inhabitants of these areas.

Cape Sable in Everglades National Park is one of the most active turtle nesting sites in south Florida. Park biologists monitor sea turtle nesting activity on Cape Sable's beaches throughout the nesting season to document the presence of turtles.

The dry season, runs from December through April. During this season, everything starts to dry up in a short amount of time. In the Everglades, the water levels from month to month can change drastically. That's part of the unique charm of this place!

There are only two everglades systems in the world – one in Florida and one near Noosa in Queensland, Australia.

Constant development on surrounding lands cause further issues for endangered animals like these. The Everglades is shallow. The water in the Everglades is only on average around 4 to 5 feet deep and the deepest point is around 9 feet.