DAVIE, Fla. — Florida is full of lush tropical gardens, but few boost quite as many wild animals that can roam the property like the Flamingo Gardens in South Florida. 


What You Need To Know

  • It was a private estate turned into a botanical garden

  • There are dozens of flamingos that you can interact with

  • There are other animals, like otters and Josh the black bear

You'll find a lush 60-acre private estate that has since been transformed into a botanical garden and animal sanctuary in Davie. 

“Boyd and Jean Wray established this place as a beauty spot many years ago back in the 1920s. They used our beautiful Wray home which is now a museum as their vacation spot. They loved plants and were avid gardeners and had orange groves and over the years it's stayed in the family who has kept it open to the public," animal caretaker Sandra Lezcano said. 

The gardens were founded by the Wrays as the Flamingo Grove, but now it is known as Flamingo Gardens, and while the citrus groves are no longer here, the garden’s namesake is still thriving on the property. 

“It's a really good chance to see them up close learn about them because that's when you really start to appreciate them," Lezcano said. 

There are dozens of flamingos that grace these gardens and you can interact with them, feeding them and learning about the different varieties there live here. 

As you wander through the tropical gardens you'll see some of the different animals that call this spot home.

There are animals that range from birds, playful otters put on quite a show and the garden’s most popular resident is Josh, a 600-pound black bear.

The Flamingo Gardens are open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.