ORLANDO, Fla. – Gatorland park in Orlando celebrated the opening of the park’s newest exhibit last fall. The White Gator Swamp was designed specifically for albino and leucistic alligators.
“The albino alligators have no pigment in their skin at all. You can see their eyes are almost white but they’re really kind of pinkish-red,” Savannah Boan, Crocodilian enrichment coordinator said. “Their skin is very very sensitive, right? so we had to kind of track the sun and find a way that they could get some natural sunlight but not too much because it’ll burn their skin.”
To help the white gators enjoy some fun in the sun, the exhibit is underneath a shaded area but can still let in some natural light. It’s about proving them a natural habitat and space where they can partner up.
“Gatorland’s got the great facility to house these guys to introduce them to try and promote some breeding for them,” Brandon Fisher, director of media productions said. “They’re gonna do it naturally by themselves.”
One of the leucistic gators is a 32-year-old found in Louisiana.
“What makes him really unique, you’re gonna notice those blue eyes,” Fisher said, " these guys are missing the melanin, that’s that leucistic, leucism, so basically what gives them the dark pigment."
Trezo is now sharing his new home with Ashley, a female gator. The park hopes they'll welcome baby gators by the summer.
"Trezo, he's already been snuggling up to Ashley, they've been rubbing noses with each other," Fisher said.
Currently, Gatorland is home to 8 white gators--the newest members are 6-month-old albino gators, named Huck, Sawyer and Elly Mae.