Fauna

Further information: List of mammals of Florida and Snakes of Florida

An alligator in the Florida Everglades.

Florida is host to many types of wildlife including:

• Marine mammals: bottlenose dolphin, short-finned pilot whale, North Atlantic right whale, West Indian manatee
• Mammals: Florida panther, northern river otter, mink, eastern cottontail rabbit, marsh rabbit, raccoon, striped skunk, squirrel, white-tailed deer, Key deer, bobcats, gray fox, coyote, wild boar, Florida black bear, nine-banded armadillos, Virginia opossum
• Reptiles: eastern diamondback and pygmy rattlesnakes, gopher tortoise, green and leatherback sea turtles, and eastern indigo snake. In 2012, there were about one million American alligators and 1,500 crocodiles.^[61]
• Birds: peregrine falcon,^[62] bald eagle, northern caracara, snail kite, osprey, white and brown pelicans, sea gulls, whooping and sandhill cranes, roseate spoonbill, Florida scrub jay (state endemic), and others. One subspecies of wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, namely subspecies osceola, is found only in Florida.^[63] The state is a wintering location for many species of eastern North American birds.
  • As a result of climate change, there have been small numbers of several new species normally native to cooler areas to the north: snowy owls, snow buntings, harlequin ducks, and razorbills. These have been seen in the northern part of the state.^[64]
• Invertebrates: carpenter ants, termites, American cockroach, Africanized bees, the Miami blue butterfly, and the grizzled mantis.

The only known calving area for the northern right whale is off the coasts of Florida and Georgia.^[65]
The native bear population has risen from a historic low of 300 in the 1970s, to 3,000 in 2011.^[66]
Since their accidental importation from South America into North America in the 1930s, the red imported fire ant population has increased its territorial range to include most of the Southern United States, including Florida. They are more aggressive than most native ant species and have a painful sting.^[67]
A number of non-native snakes and lizards have been released in the wild. In 2010 the state created a hunting season for Burmese and Indian pythons, African rock pythons, green anacondas, and Nile monitor lizards.^[68] Green iguanas have also established a firm population in the southern part of the state.
There are about 500,000 feral pigs in Florida.^[69]

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  Key deer in the lower Florida Keys
  
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  The Florida scrub jay is found only in Florida.
  
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  West Indian manatee
  
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  Florida panther, native of South Florida
  
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  Leatherback sea turtle
  
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  Whooping crane
  

Flora

There are about 3,000 different types of wildflowers in Florida. This is the third most diverse state in the union, behind California and Texas, both larger states.^[70]
On the east coast of the state, mangroves have normally dominated the coast from Cocoa Beach southward; salt marshes from St. Augustine northward. From St. Augustine south to Cocoa Beach, the coast fluctuates between the two, depending on the annual weather conditions.^[64]

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  Everglades National Park in Southern Florida
  
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  Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys
  
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  Ocala National Forest in Central and Northern Florida.
  
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  Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Northeast Florida