Ibises and egrets

South Florida's unique environment has been home to a wide variety of wildlife, including the Florida panther, the Great Blue Heron, the American alligator, the ibis and the egret. Yet many of these species were threatened as a result of loss of habitat following efforts to drain the Everglades, develop the surrounding region, and promote hunting and fishing as popular tourist activities.

Since the 1832 visit of John James Audubon to South Florida, though, there have been important efforts to conserve and protect the regions wildlife even in the midst of such significant threats to their habitat.

In 1900, conservationists including future president Theodore Roosevelt, inventor Thomas Edison, and railroad magnate Henry Flagler joined others in establishing the Audubon Society of Florida to save the wild birds of Florida. Just one year later, the state legislature passed a bird protection act, while Dade County enacted a prohibition against shooting, capturing, or killing deer, crocodiles, or wild birds. These acts, and others that followed, helped curtail hunting activities that had been an enticement for many adventurers to come to South Florida but whose activities began to threaten the area's wildlife.