Isnin, Februari 16, 2009

White alligator is one of rarest in world


A white alligator, one of only 12 of its kind anywhere in the world, has been brought in from the swamps of Louisiana.

With its piercing blue eyes and pale skin this rare Alligator stands out like a sore thumb. Weighing over 500 pounds, 22 year old male Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world. The 500lb, 22-year-old male alligator, Bouya Blan, whose name means white fog, is kept at the Gatorland theme park in Florida. He is one of four giant leucistic alligators kept at the park.

Collected from deep in a Louisiana swamp, the ivory reptiles were part of a clutch of seventeen infants recovered by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company while surveying the area in 1986. The group later brought the hatchlings to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans where only a few of the rare reptiles survived, before they were brought to Gatorland last year.

Leucistic animals have rare genetic condition that reduces the colour pigmentation in their skin. Out of the 5 million american alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators.


Telegraph