Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park West Entrance — Attraction in Homosassa Springs

I'm very confused about the current rating of the park, perhaps there's been drastic reduction in funding but the following is what I observed on 3/6/23: I am deeply concerned about the wildlife (hippo, birds of prey and shorebirds, wolves, fox, bear, river otters, snakes, alligators, bobcats, Florida Panthers, manatees that were supposed to being rehabbed, deer, tortoise, to name a few) that are being housed at the ironically named Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park located at 9350 W Fishbowl Dr, Homosassa, FL 34448 . The conditions were largely deplorable in terms of cleanliness and prison-like in terms of lack of appropriate space for mammals to be able to just move let alone exercise. The bird enclosures were so filthy it was intolerable to walk by without your lungs and throat burning, and some of birds appear stressed and are plucking their feathers out. You could observe the backbone on the sole hippo, whose aquatic enclosure was small and the water incredibly dirty. A ranger fed the hippo while I was there and it was approximately a half a bale of hay and some grain (sweet feed smelling) which was dumped on the ground and not even in a feed bin or trough and given her advanced age, she seemed to really struggle to eat off the pavement. No animal had any enrichment and although the black bear looked the healthiest of all and happy to amuse himself with a stick, his enclosure was also small and was prevented with barriers from even climbing the trees in the middle of the enclosure. I overheard an employee telling the general public how they play fetch with him and effectively taught him tricks. The wild cats and fox were all passing their fence lines and a one FL panther was kept in an area that was no bigger than a dog kennel that was attached to an outbuilding. For an animal that has a hunting radius of upwards of 200 sq. miles, this was disturbing. The best means for me to describe this facility was the zoo of the clinically depressed. There is little signage, and although a few exhibits stated they the animals were injured or orphaned. Others appeared to be just "attractions" as they were completely enclosed (birds). The osprey were kept in an open pit (as well a Bald Eagle, Hawk, and Crested Cara), that was incredibly small for three birds with no natural features (given they are aquatic birds that obviously do not live on the ground) and I did not observe any drinking water for any of the birds of prey. Those birds seemed stressed as well. I'm sure you get inundated with requests and there is no shortage of cruelty in the world, however, I implore you to find time to look into this facility. It is disturbing that a state park exploits the suffering of wild animals like a roadside circus/animal park. Although they seem to draw the public in under the auspice of rehabilitation, there was nothing but suffering and isolation...

Wonderful history, beautiful park, a real amazing place. We were a group of 4 adults ($13 ea, worth every penny!) visiting July 27, 2022. We took the pontoon boat ride ($3/person) from the entrance/parking on South Suncoast Blvd - a guided and educational 15 min ride to the other park entrance on Fishbowl Drive. We took the tram back from the entrance at Fishbowl Drive to the park office on South Suncoast Blvd.

This park has a huge history and i won't recite it here. In the end it has become an excellent site to learn of Florida's native mammals, snakes & birds. All collected as a result of a severe injury where they have been brought back to life but unable to live in the wild because of the lengthy dependence on humans for survival - such as a hippo* (disclaimer: the hippo was an original resident before the park was formed) black bear, fox, panther, snakes, fish, bald eagle, owls, rosette spoonbills, white & brown pelicans, and flamingos. We arrived in time to watch the resident manatees being fed whole romaine lettuce bunches from above as well as below the water from the cooool viewing room - this was the only place with steps; 12 or so to get below the water.

Plenty of restrooms around the grounds and what appear to be snack huts for people but closed since July is somewhat called low season. There was a small cafeteria-style restaurant at the entrance on Fishbowl Drive.

Everybody we encountered was so friendly...

We've been here many times and always take new guests. When we visit the west coast. The price is reasonable. There's a very tiny gift shop which has less than it used to, they do have a small amount of food for purchasing, there is some indoor and outdoor tables for use, there are nice clean bathrooms. I must say though that there seem to be less animals than in the past. There were only three alligators left when there used to be a whole lot of them before, but I understand from the really nice volunteer that was answering my questions that they have gotten old and many have passed away. I'm also a little bit disappointed that the aviary which housed so many beautiful birds that would just fly around and you can go and then some would land on you, that is not even close to being done let alone look like it was under active construction. Construction. The one thing I would say that they could also improve on is having a guy go around after opening and using a gas leaf blower for almost the entire hour. While we were there was annoying and distracting and kind of took away from the beautiful ambiance of the place. But it is a place we would go back and visit again and it's a great place for kids also. If you get there early, you can park right across the street from the entrance. If not, you have to park out on the remote lot way out on the main road but they do have shuttles that will drop you off right at...