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Everglades National Park is located in the state of Florida. It is the largest wilderness in the entire country and makes up 25% of the wetlands in the state. The Everglades is home to several rare and endangered species. It is also the third largest national park in the US, after Death Valley National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Each year, about 1 million tourists visit the park. On a global level, it has been announced as a World Heritage Site.
Unlike most other national parks, Everglades National Park was created to protect an ecosystem (生态系统) from being damaged. In 1947, President Harry Truman spoke at the official opening of Everglades National Park, saying the goal of creating the park was to protect forever a wild area that could never be replaced.
10,000 different islands make up Everglades National Park. There exists natural wildlife on each of these islands. The Everglades is home to about 30 species that are endangered. In addition, more than 350 bird species and 300 species of fresh and saltwater fish live within the park. The Everglades is also home to 40 species of mammals (哺乳动物).
There are many ways to explore the Everglades. Visitors can see alligators (短吻鳄) while hiking the Anhinga Trail. The Everglades is one of the few places on Earth where freshwater alligators and saltwater crocodiles live in the same area. Visitors using airboats are likely to see large groups of birds. Some visitors might enjoy riding bicycles through Shark Valley. Others may want to move slowly through the water where they can see insects and wildlife closely.
According to experts, changes to the Everglades are becoming a danger to several different kinds of wildlife. They say it is a result of actions the US government began more than 50 years ago, and settlers began even earlier.