AMERICAN WHITE ALLIGATORS

ALLIGATOR:

Very familiar with the Word Alligator, But a short Description on it.An Alligator is a crocodilian from the family of Alligatoridae.There are two extant Alligators,they are.

· The American alligator

· The Chinese alligator

The term Alligator is derived from the Spanish term which means “Lizard”

AMERICAN ALLIGATOR:

American alligators are basically from the southeastern United States. It is one of the listed endangered species; the species is still federally listed as threatened because it looks like the American crocodile, which is rare to see.The species belongs to the order Crocodylia and the family Alligatoridae.

AMERICAN WHITE ALLIGATORS:

Rarest Alligators are White alligators.These are first discovered by Louisiana Land and Exploration Company in 1987

Like all other Alligators, they also live in freshwater swamps, marshes, rivers, lakes and small water bodies of southeastern United States.

LOOKS OF WHITE ALLIGATORS:

Male White Alligators measure 15 feet and females are below 10 feet and weighing 1,000 pounds.. These alligators are of White skin. They have webbed feet which helps them for better swimming. Their muzzle is broad. The edge of an upper jaw overlaps the teeth of the lower jaw.

SPECIAL FEATURE:

They are very tall in nature and this helps to overwhelm even other alligators and predators. Their tail also an added advantage for swimming.

HABITAT

They are primarily freshwater animals, even though they will venture into briny salt water they mostly live in marshy areas, rivers, streams, lakes and ponds.

BREEDING:

These creatures are active throughout the year, but they are most active in the warmer months. Mostly during the month of May, By June, pairs have mated, and females begin building mound nests out of marsh reeds or other vegetation.

The females lay between 20 and 60 eggs. The hard-shelled, white eggs are about 3 inches long and resemble goose eggs. The mother defends the nest against predators throughout the incubation period, about 65 days. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the mother alligator digs into the nest mound, opens any eggs that have not hatched and carries the young down to the water. Females sometimes aggressively defend their young for more than a year.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF WHITE ALLIGATORS:

Two types of white Alligators,

· Albino alligators and

· Leucistic White alligators.

They are similar to each other and quite confusing, but dissimilarity is there.

Albinos	Leucistics
They have red eyes	They have blue eyes
They are weak creatures	They are Strong creatures
They are with white pigment	They display white to yellow skin and colorless irises.
Albinos are only 65-70 numbers in the world	Discovered - leucistic alligators, one in 1987 in Louisiana and other in 1994, whereby only one female was discovered.

DIFFERENCE WITH OTHERS:

The only difference between this alligator and others is the color of skin, which looks like a White Chocolate.

PREY:

They eat any aquatic or terrestrial creatures which are up to their range.

For instance: fish, turtle, mammals, snakes, birds, carrion and even other alligators. They cannot differentiate between animals; they just grab the animal whichever getting close to it.

BACKGROUND OF WHITE COLOR:

White Alligators have a gene transformation that prevents the animal from producing melanin that are white in color and have blue or red eyes.

History:

The American alligator was first listed as an endangered species in 1967 due to loss of habitat and market hunting. A combined effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state wildlife agencies in the South, and the creation of large, commercial alligator farms saved these unique animals. In 1987, the Fish and Wildlife Service pronounced the American alligator fully recovered and consequently removed the animal from the list of endangered species.

FACTS ABOUT ALLIGATORS:

· The largest record of American alligator was 19 feet in length.

· Alligators are the last living reptiles that were closely related to dinosaurs.

· Alligators and crocodiles are related. But alligators have rounded snouts; most crocodile species have longer, pointed snouts. Also, crocodiles occur only in tropical and subtropical areas (only south Florida in the United States). Alligators, on the other hand, live in somewhat colder climates.

· Alligators have a strong homing instinct and sometimes will protect their "territory" from other alligators.

“Alligators are enthralling creature and they must be protected and be enjoyed as part of the natural beauty of our region even though they are wild animals.”