NEW Zoo of Brown County, WI

Get Ready to Get Lucky

Tallulah, the 6.5 foot American Alligator, accompanied by Zookeepers Jessica Hutjens and Ryan Taylor left the NEW Zoo amid flurries of snow on April 27 to return to her home in Florida. The Keepers report that Tallulah, who has been living at the NEW Zoo on loan for the past 3 years, seemed happy to bask in the Florida sun once again. After spending a day training with the expert staff at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park, our Zookeepers loaded the newest addition to the NEW Zoo family into the Zoomobile and headed for home.

Lucky, a rare albino American Alligator is not yet 5 years old and still quite small, only about 3.5 feet long. Legend says that if you look into the eyes of an albino alligator, you are lucky, indeed. It is estimated that only about 30 albino alligators exist in the world. As with many other species, albino individuals are a rare occurrence in wild alligator populations. Albino alligators can not survive in the wild because without protection from the sun, the basking reptiles quickly suffer severe burns. Any animals who manage to survive the suns rays don’t blend in well with their surroundings and are easy picking for predators. In captivity, the animals can be protected from both predators and the sun and can live a normal lifespan of 60 years.

We are hoping to get lucky out this Friday, May 9th if the weather is nice! Come stop by, meet Lucky, and hopefully get some luck yourself! Get Ready to Get Lucky!

Published: May 6th, 2008