It was an ordinary day. Reading about a rare white alligator. Ever see an alligator in real life during your lifetime? Neat to see them at the zoo, but even better seeing one in the wild. Happened once to me, and I must admit...I was scared when I saw it. It was an extremely small gator, but still scary! Didn't take me long to get some distance between the alligator and myself! Well, an extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park.
The 19.2 inch female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of a few known leucitic alligators, Gatorland Orlando recently said. "This is beyond rare. It is absolutely extraordinary," Mark McHugh, President and CEO of Gatorland said in a statement. The park is asking for the public's help in naming the alligator, which is descended from a nest of leucitic alligators discovered in the swamps of Louisiana in 1987. The blue-eye newborn is the first solid white alligator recorded to have descended from those original alligators. Of the seven remaining alligators from the nest, three are at Gatorland. The Leucistic alligator is the rarest genetic variation in the American alligator. They differ from albino alligators, which have pink eyes and a complete loss of pigment, Park visitors at Gatorland will be able to see the leucitic alligator and her normal-colored brother early next year. "For now, however, Gatorland will continue to keep them safe where they can closely monitor their health and growth," Mr. McHugh said. Hope to get to see some more photographs of the new white gator and perhaps a chance to see it on television in the near future. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - My name for the new gator is..."Whitey Web-Shoes"...what else could it be?
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