Naples Zoo
The story of Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens begins with botanist Dr. Henry Nehrling. An early conservationist, Nehrling wrote in 1904, "It is high time to protect and preserve what is still left." He first acquired the Naples site in 1919 to avoid a repetition of the disastrous freeze to his plant collection in central Florida in 1917. At that time, this portion of Naples was being sold in farm plots for agriculture. In regard to his new work, he stated, "In my 66th year, I again became a pioneer of the wilderness." His newfound devotion allowed him to say in 1925, "My garden, containing about 3,000 species of tropical plants, is a constant source of intense pleasure and delight." His new home, the famed "Tropical Garden," one of the earliest plant collections in Florida, occupied the northern acreage of the present day Gardens. Many of his plantings, still remaining, provided the inspiration for current endeavors. Dr. David Fairchild, the veteran plant explorer associated with Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Coral Gables, wrote of Nehrling, "He was always a naturalist at heart . . . a great plantsman of the type so rare that one can hope to meet only a few, even in a long life of travel."
Leading scientists and environmentalists of the day consulted with the keenly observant botanist about his work during their visits to his gardens. Nehrling's guests included the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, nature writer John Burroughs, horticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey, pioneer naturalist Charles Torrey Simpson, botanist David Fairchild, and famed inventor Thomas Edison. During his work for the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction to the U.S. Bureau of Plant Industry, Nehrling introduced over 300 new and beneficial plants to the United States including the colorful and immensely popular caladium. Dr. Whitmer Stone of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia said of him, "A typical German professor of the old school, of courtly manner and enthusiastically absorbed in his work, he made a host of warm friends and was pleased as a child when visitors admired his garden."
Following his death in 1929, however, more than twenty years were to pass before his garden was admired again. Of Nehrling himself, David Fairchild reflected, "The wildlife is passing. Man is destroying it. Dr. Nehrling loved it and taught thousands to follow his lead." Indeed, although he received some recognition in his lifetime including the Meyer Medal for service in the introduction of plants to the United States, the far reaching work of Dr. Nehrling is continuing to receive even more attention into the present time including the "Plant Protection Award of Eminence" and "Honor Roll of Eminence" awarded by the Florida Department of Agriculture in 1997. Most of his writings are maintained at Rollins College. Two of his texts were edited by a Smithsonian Institute botanist for reprint in in the 21st century.
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