Qualla: Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: Introduction

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 2.5. For more than sixty years, a hippopotamus named Lucifer held court in a corner of Florida that most tourists never find. Lu arrived at Homosassa Springs in 1964 as a young Hollywood performer, fresh off appearances in the television shows Daktari and Cowboy in Africa. He never left. By the time Governor Lawton Chiles declared him an honorary citizen of the state in the 1990s, Lu had become something far rarer than a celebrity animal. He was the reason people drove an hour north of Tampa, past the strip malls and billboards, into the quiet tangle of Citrus County's spring-fed rivers.

Image: Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 2.5

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: Water from the Deep

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 2.5. The springs at Homosassa pump roughly 65 million gallons of water daily from the Floridan Aquifer, maintaining a constant 72 degrees year-round. That steady warmth is what draws West Indian manatees here each winter, sometimes dozens at a time, drifting into the spring run from t...

Image: Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 2.5

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: Layers Beneath the Surface

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ebyabe, CC BY 2.5. Native Americans lived along these springs long before European contact. The Seminole and Miccosukee peoples resettled the area after the original inhabitants were devastated by disease and colonial warfare. By the early 1900s, the springs had already become a tourist attraction,...

Image: Ebyabe | CC BY 2.5

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: Lu's Long Goodbye

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Motwog, CC BY 4.0. Born at the San Diego Zoo on January 26, 1960, Lu came to Homosassa as part of the Ivan Tors Animal Actors troupe. When Florida's state parks began phasing out non-native species from their wildlife exhibits, officials made an exception for Lu. He had lived at the springs for so ...

Image: Motwog | CC BY 4.0

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: A Living Refuge

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paul Clark, CC BY 2.0. Today the park, officially named the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in honor of benefactor Elmyra Felburn Schiller, focuses on native Florida species. Black bears pace behind enclosures. Bobcats watch from elevated platforms with unblinking yellow eyes. Rive...

Image: Paul Clark | CC BY 2.0