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Zoo wrangles 46 new gators
By Franklin Hayes Splash! Magazine
 | | Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Zookeeper Rachael Pettry holds an unnamed, two-year-old American Alligator, one of 46 new ZOO residents. |
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Employees at The ZOO of Northwest Florida have their hands full with the addition of 46 new alligators, including an 800pound, 12.5 foot behemoth named George.
Now that curators have more than seven times their normal inventory of crocodilian reptiles, ZOO patrons can expect to see at least two new exhibits featuring the American Alligator in coming months. Currently the ZOO's newest residents are located in the African Wild Life Preserve, an area accessible by the Safari Line train or the boardwalk. However, future plans include converting what has been the porcupine exhibit into a suitable habitat for smaller alligators. The porcupines are now on loan to The Texas Zoo in Victoria Texas, located 116 miles southeast of San Antonio.
Aiken said a preview of the exhibit should be open to the public in coming weeks, but the conversion doesn't stop there. By next spring ZOO officials hope to
have an area in place have an area in place where the general public can feed medium sized alligators from a safe distance via fishing pole.
The larger specimens will move into what is now a duck pond near the front entrance of the property. The ZOO's Executive Director H. Doug Kemper Jr. revealed plans to build an elevated boardwalk, and an extensive retention fence that should be completed by spring 2007.
Kemper explained
that the reptilian
acquisition was a natural fit. "We didn't want those gators to go anywhere else, we wanted them here. We're in Florida, and we should have an alligator exhibit."
60-year-old George and 45 other alligators of all sizes and ages were recently transported to The ZOO from the Sweetwater Creek Alligator Farm located 31 miles northeast of Panama City. After learning their lease would not be renewed owners of the alligator farm contacted The ZOO in an effort to save their reptilian community. Normally, adult alligators can sell for as much as $100 per foot and The ZOO was fortunate to gain financial assistance from Pensacola Dentist and University of Florida alumnus James Hart.
"It was my understanding that someone had to purchase them or they would be slaughtered," Hart said.
It took multiple trips to move all the animals, utilizing several vehicles including a van, an SUV and a moving trailer. The ZOO's Director of Visitor Services Natalie Aiken explained that some of her staff was a little uneasy about capturing and transporting the carnivorous animals, but after a few trips everyone was begging to go.
"It was literally like the crocodile hunter," Aiken said, referring to the Animal Planet's popular nature show starring Steve Irwin.
Aiken said ZOO staff thoroughly enjoyed finding the alligators in murky water, wrestling and binding them in preparation for their two and a half-hour journey to the ZOO.
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