Today I drove to Naples to visit the zoo which was once the gardens for botanist Dr. Henry Nehrling's collection of plants. The gardens were neglected after his death, but were reopened in 1954. Animals were added by Larry and Jane Tetzlaff (also known as Jungle Larry and Safari Jane) in 1969 and the gardens were reopened as a zoo. Larry and Jane needed somewhere to house their collection of rare animals during the winter.
The zoo has roughly 70 animal species, although not all are on display. The park has a main path about a mile long which winds past the main animal exhibits through a tropical garden planted in 1919. Primates in the zoo are housed on islands in a man-made lake (Lake Victoria, named after the African lake) and can be viewed on the Primate Expedition Cruise. The majority of the species on these islands are endangered in the wild.
Throughout the day the zoo provides visitors with events that highlight the animals and conservation.
