As you walk through the Animal Forest, you will see famillar plants and animals-live oaks and palmetto trees, shorebirds and squirrels-that still thrive in our marshes and backyards today. You will also see larger species that once were plentiful. in the thick lentiful in forests of 17th-century Carolina- mountain lions (pumas) and black bears, bison and bobcats.
The Charles Towne settlers viewed land and natural resources very differently from the Kiawah and other Native Americans. They began reshaping the countryside to fit their lifestyles. Gradually, native Carolina plants and animals had to adapt... retreat to less- crowded lands... or die.