Mystic: Florida wildlife park announces name of its rare white baby alligator
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WATCH: "Beyond rare" white baby alligator born in Florida
A wildlife park in the US state of Florida has announced the name of one of its newest residents.
The extremely rare, pale white, alligator was born at Gatorland in Orlando last month.
According to officials at the park, the female reptile measured 49cm at birth, and is one of only seven alligators of its kind in the world.
In a video on social media, the park has now said that it hass selected the name 'Mystic' from the hundreds of suggestions it received.
What's happened?
The baby alligator has been given the name 'Mystic'
The gator is rare because it has a genetic condition known as leucism which involves a partial loss of pigmentation, that gives the alligator its typical colour.
Mystic was born to a mother with typical colouring and a leucistic dad from a Louisiana swamp last month.
At the time, Mark McHugh, president and CEO of Gatorland, said: "This is beyond rare. It is absolutely extraordinary."
The Florida theme park had asked the public to help name the tiny gator.
Hundreds of names were submitted including Ice, Noelle, Snow, Pearl, Ivory and Marshmallow.
Leucism and albinism are often difficult to tell apart because they share some of the same characteristics. Albino refers to the complete lack of melanin - the natural pigment that gives skin, feathers, hair, and eyes their colour. It means those with albinism also have eyes that are pale or pink in colour. Leucism refers to only a partial loss of pigmentation. Animals with leucism often have partially white features with darker eyes.
Mystic was born alongside a brother that was the same size, but with colouring typically seen among other alligators.
The park revealed that he has now been named given the name 'Mayhem'.
"Leucism in alligators causes white coloration, but they often have patches or splotches of normal coloration on their skin," the park said.
"Without the darker skin pigmentation, they can't have direct sunlight for long periods of time because they sunburn easily."
They normally have translucent skin and blue eyes, unlike albino alligators which have red or pink eyes.
The baby gator's dad, Jeyan, came from the Louisiana swamp and now lives in another park in Orlando, Florida
Gatorland says leucistic alligators are the rarest genetic variation of the American alligator in the world.
The 110-acre theme park has more than 2,000 American Alligators and is already home to the baby gator's uncles, leucistic brothers Feros and Trezo, at its White Gator Swamp attraction.
- Published21 September 2023
- Published18 November 2020
