This shy and nocturnal animal is a native species of the Yucatan Peninsula and  in danger of extinction. Tapirs (Tapirus Bairdii) are large mammals which are often confused with hippos, anteaters and capybaras. Their closest living relatives are horses and rhinos, and they have a unique feature; a prominent long nose that is used to grab leaves and to snorkel while swimming.

Tapirs are strictly herbivorous and live close to water formations, where they stay immersed most of the time as a way to cool off from the jungle heat and, as a safe place from predators such as jaguars. Those who pay a visit to Xcaret´s tapir territory will commonly find this chubby creature lying inside his own natural pool.    

Tapirs have a unique role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers; which helps maintain the biological diversity of the tropical jungle where they live in such as the southeastern states of Mexico like Campeche, Chiapas and Quintana Roo. They are also one of the largest endangered land mammals, primarily because of overhunting and habitat loss due to pollution and large-scale construction.

Concerned on the tapir´s human threat and dramatic population decrease, in 2008 Xcaret eco-Park hosted the Fourth Tapir Symposium, which brought together a group of experts including biologists, environmental educators, captivity specialists, academics and international researchers dedicated to conserving tapirs and their habitat through strategic-action planning in countries where tapirs live.

All Xcaret Tickets include admission to Xcaret´s Tapir Territory, from the Xcaret Basic entrance to the most personalized Xcaret Tour (Xcaret Plus, Xcaret Two Days).

At Xcaret´s Orchid Greenhouse, a dedicated staff works to reproduce many different species of wild orchids, as well as hybrid species by the “in vitro” technique, to help the propagation of orchids that are in the brink of extinction due to deforestation and the unrestrained collection of this precious plant.   

The orchid exhibition at Xcaret eco-Park opened in July in 1996 offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful presence of orchids and learn the different stages of from their reproduction until they are fully grown and blooming. In Xcaret´s Orchid Greenhouse shows off the three stages of plant´s growing process: the pollination of the flower (or insemination which orchids carry out with their same pollen), cultivation in vitro, and the plant´s adaptation from the laboratory´s environment to the nursery.

In vitro cultivation is a very special process. The Xcaret Orchid Greenhouse includes an In Vitro Orchid Laboratory that stores as many as 5 thousand containers, each with approximately 50 plants that are prepared for germination. After a year in vitro, the plants are strong enough to withstand adaptation and are transferred from the In Vitro Laboratory into flower pots located the Orchid Greenhouse. After the second or third year, they are tied to the trunk or branches of a tree, were they flower annually.

Xcaret ´s Orchid Greenhouse currently raises 89 of the 105 species native of the Yucatan Peninsula and 25 hybrid plants. In 2006, Xcaret eco-Park cultivated 28,527 orchids, and in 2007 the number raised to a total of 52,358 orchids. All Xcaret Tickets include admission to Xcaret´s Orchid Greenhouse, from the Xcaret Basic entrance to the most personalized Xcaret Tour (Xcaret Plus, Xcaret Two Days).

The Turtle Center in Xcaret is one of the top attractions of the Park. Visitors come across the different types of sea turtles in Xcaret Coral Reef Aquarium such as the loggerhead turtle, green turtle and leatherback turtle. Visitors can witness them when they are at their smallest size, from the moment that they nest, up until reaching 3 feet in length.

Since 1996, Xcaret Park rescue projects in cooperation with national and local governments have assisted approximately 200,000 baby turtles to the water’s edge along a 100 kilometer stretch of beach during nesting season.

Xcaret Park shelters baby turtles until they reach 12 to 15 months and become strong enough to be liberated into the wild. During their growing process they are kept at the Xcaret Turtle Center, in a lagoon and spacious tanks that resemble their natural habitat, where visitors can observe them swimming along as a group, while the Park´s staff carefully studies their behaviors. 

Turtles in Xcaret Park swim in several pools, where visitors can observe their different growth stages, from baby turtles up to full adult turtles measuring up to one meter of length, which are allowed to be pet if they are curious enough to come close to the edge.   

All Xcaret Tickets include access to the Turtle Center from the Xcaret Basic entrance to the most personalized Xcaret Tour (Xcaret Plus, Xcaret Two Days).

Manatees inhabit the warm tropical waters of the Mexican Caribbean, mostly in mangrove canals, underwater caves and lagoons. But as the habitat of manatees has rapidly been destroyed and polluted by humans, their population has decreased and are now a species in danger of extinction in Mexico and protected by law.

So in efforts to help in the conservation of manatees, Xcaret Park worked to get the permits through the Mexican Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA) and the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, to host manatees in the parks facilities focused on the rescue and care of the animals.

Since August 2001, two orphan manatees that lived under improper conditions were rescued from a polluted lagoon in the Mexican state of Tabasco and transferred to Xcaret Park. 

Nohoch and Pompon are the two adult manatees (female and male) that were lodged in a natural lagoon in Xcaret Park and remain part of several scientific and medical research projects. They are supervised by special veterinarians and qualified staff that feed them and take care of all their needs, and are now one of the top attractions of Xcaret Park.   

The manatees at Xcaret Park are calm, slow swimmers that reach more than one meter of length, and can be admired from a close distance. All Xcaret Tickets include access to the Manatee Lagoon from the Xcaret Basic entrance to the most personalized Xcaret Tour (Xcaret Plus, Xcaret Two Days).

The Botanical Garden at Xcaret Park offers ecological tours where visitors can observe more than 60,000 of trees and plants cultivated in-house for reforestation purposes.  This place includes limestone paths that take visitors through a splendid journey of Mexican vegetation and plants from the Yucatan in an intimate, enchanting environment.

The Botanical Garden in Xcaret Park opened in 1994 with the mission of rescuing thousands of trees from the construction project of the Park´s paths that were built so visitors would be able to explore the facilities. Afterwards, the Botanical Garden began working on reproducing plants from the region to propagate the vegetation that already existed in the Park.

Today, mushrooms, orchids, wild plants, bromeliads, different native plants of Southeast Mexico and plants that are special for the butterfly reproduction are cultivated in the Botanical Garden of Xcaret Park.

This Xcaret Park attraction rescues, preserves and reproduces exotic and wild plant species. It´s also a place where people can learn about the use and natural properties of different species of regional flora and the importance of their conservation.  In 2007, more than 90,000 plants were successfully cultivated in the Botanical Garden of Xcaret.  

All Xcaret Tickets include entrance to the Botanical Garden, from the Xcaret Basic entrance to the most personalized Xcaret Tour (Xcaret Plus, Xcaret Two Days).

Xcaret Park Butterfly Pavilion is a special closed area of almost 15 meters of height with exuberant tropical gardens, trees and paths where more than 48 varieties of local butterflies flutter in this magical place.  

Visitors that enter Xcaret Butterfly Pavilion will find butterflies flying around them, and once in while they may chose as a resting place your hair, shoulders and hands. One is able to take wonderful photos of them, as they come close to the visitors during their walk.

 Between 10 and 20 butterflies are born every day in Xcaret Butterfly Pavilion, and 1,500 every month. The most colorful species are the iridescent Blue Morph (Morpho helenor), the Owl (Caligo memnon), the Swallowtail,  the Zebra (Heliconius charitonius) and, during the winter, the Monarch butterfly.

The breeding cycle takes approximately 72 days and the lifespan is between three and six months depending on the species. Butterflies at Xcaret Park can sip water and feed on the nectar produced by many flowering plants and fruits found at the Butterfly Pavilion.

These creatures are very important agents of pollination and are also migratory, which means that they are capable of flying long distances like the Monarch butterfly that travels almost 4,000 miles from North America to Mexico.

All Xcaret Tickets include entrance to the Butterfly Pavilion, from the Xcaret Basic entrance to the most personalized Xcaret Tour (Xcaret Plus, Xcaret Two Days).