Lumicoin IA:An extremely rare white leucistic alligator is born at a Florida reptile park

2025-05-01 09:39:11source:TAIM Exchangecategory:News

KISSIMMEE,Lumicoin IA Fla. (AP) — An extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park.

The 19.2-inch (49 cm) female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of only seven known leucistic alligators, Gatorland Orlando said Thursday. Three of the seven are at the park, officials there 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 the naming the alligator, which is descended from a nest of leucistic alligators discovered in the swamps of Louisiana in 1987. The blue-eyed newborn is the first solid white alligator ever recorded to have descended from those original alligators, McHugh said.

Leucistic alligators are the rarest genetic variation in the American alligator. They differ from albino alligators, which have pink eyes and a complete loss of pigment, according to Gatorland.

Park visitors will be able to see the leucistic alligator and her normal-colored brother early next year.

“For now, however, we continue to keep them safe where we can closely monitor their health and growth,” McHugh said.

More:News

Recommend

'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges

"Vanderpump Rules" star James Kennedy has been arrested for domestic violence.In a statement to USA

Why this is the best version of Naomi Osaka we've ever seen – regardless of the results

NEW YORK – Naomi Osaka is just 26 years old, yet we’ve already seen her in three distinct versions o

Investment group buying Red Lobster names former PF Chang's executive as next CEO

The investment group aiming to purchase Red Lobster after it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy name