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Albino Alligator

Albino American Alligator

Albino Alligator Face

Alligator mississippiensis

Hello big American Albino Alligator! There are lots of neat facts about American Alligators in general, but I’m going to save that for another ‘gator-rrific post that I have planned. The alligator above lives at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida, which I visited Valentine’s Day ‘07.

Albinism occurs naturally and randomly in nature due to gene mutation. However, since most animals (alligators included) rely heavily on blending in to their natural environment, most animals that are albino live very short lives in the wild. Albino American Alligators were first stumbled on in 1992 by Jerry Savoie who runs an alligator farm in Louisiana. (You may have seen the farm and Jerry in an episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe on the Discovery Channel – which, by the way, is a fantastic show!)

Since his discovery Savoie has continued to successfully breed over 20 additional albino alligators for exhibitions.

While American Alligators were once considered endangered and many doubted their recovery – their numbers are strong now. Of the over 5 million known American Alligators there are less than 50 true albinos known according to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.