A giant bunya bunya tree from Australia towers over alligators. African crested porcupines dig in the shade of a teak tree. A traveler’s tree from Madagascar grows by the Malayan tigers. Two giant Council trees create a joined canopy over the Indian leopards. And a saw palmetto big enough to have been growing before Europeans even knew Florida existed welcomes guests coming out of the Safari Canyon theater.

Although the zoo's wild animals catch most everyone’s attention first, the greenery surrounding animals from apes to zebras is just as extraordinary.

In 1919, Dr. Henry Nehrling founded the botanical garden now known as Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens. Today, zoo guests can join a Master Gardener for a guided tour through the mature foliage of the historic garden.

Tours Offered Once a Day
The 20 to 30 minute tour of select plants and trees is offered 7 days a week in cooperation with the Master Gardeners program at the Collier County Extension of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Check schedule for time.

In addition to tours given by the Collier County Extension’s Master Gardeners, guests are sometimes treated to a personal tour by the zoo’s botanist, Dr. Jan Abernathie who first cultivated plants on the site nearly fifty years ago.

The tour is included at no additional fee in the zoo’s admission. More on the zoo's plants.

Above: Papaya, Ginger		Above: Botanical volunteer with a centuries old saw palmetto

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Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens     1590 Goodlette-Frank Road     Naples Florida 34102
ZooLine: (239) 262-5409    e-mail