GARDENS & LANDSCAPES
Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens
Seminole County · Central Florida
A 116-acre zoo beside Lake Monroe at Sanford, tracing back to a collection the fire department was given in 1923.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The Sanford Municipal Zoo started in 1923 with animals donated to the local fire department, moved twice, and settled at the present site beside Lake Monroe on July 4, 1975, with Jack Hanna as its first director there. It covers 116 acres and keeps about 400 animals across roughly 100 species, and has held accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1986. The name changed to Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens in 2007 to reflect the planting as well as the animals. It takes part in Species Survival Plans for Indian rhinoceros, cheetah, Amur leopard, cotton-top tamarin and blue iguana, and runs the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, which breeds eastern indigo snakes for release. Giraffe feeding and rhinoceros encounters are offered. The Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Ground opened in 2007 and the Little Florida Railroad runs again. The Asian Lantern Festival has been held here since 2019
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