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Status: Protected. Diet in wild: Fish, frogs, snakes, crab, fish, small rodents. Life span in captivity: Up to 60 years. Size: Average 13 feet, but can reach 18 feet in length. Native habitat: Southeastern United States in freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands.
Black Pine Animal Park 1426 W. 300 N. P.O. Box 02 Albion, IN 46701 (260) 636-7383
©2008
Professional Animal Retirement Center, Inc.
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North American Alligator
"Alligator" is a name given originally by Spanish explorers who called them "el legarto", Spanish for lizard. These reptiles are meat-eaters, eating anything found in the water, including crabs, fish, crayfish, frogs, and snakes. Alligators in captivity will also commonly eat raw chicken, rats, mice, and rabbits. Larger "wild" alligators have also been known to eat dogs and young livestock, swallowing all of their prey whole. Because alligators can grow to be from 12 to 18 feet long, and can live up to 80 years in captivity, they are not desirable as pets. Thousands are sold every year in pet stores to face early deaths due to poor care or abandonment. "Gus" was given permanent refuge at Black Pine after outgrowing his rescuer's habitat at a pet store. The pet store had rescued Gus five years earlier from a closet at an area college fraternity house. To learn more about keeping animals like these as pets, click here. Click here for more information about alligators. Click here to learn how you can help Black Pine's alligator. |
The Animals
The
North American alligator was nearly hunted to extinction early in the 20th
century, and after almost 20 years on the endangered species list, began
to rebound in the 1980's. Alligators are now a protected species in
the U.S., no longer hunted without a permit.