This is the eighth living individual in the world.
A very rare white or leucistic alligator has been born at Florida’s Gatorland reptile park. This is the eighth individual. The leukistic alligator is the rarest genetic form of American alligators.
The female alligator hatched on Thursday at a length of 49 centimeters.
– This is more than rare. This is absolutely extraordinary, CEO of Gatorland Mark McHugh said in a statement.
Alligator color is caused by a congenital deficiency in the animal’s pigment production called leukism.
– Leukism causes alligators to have a white coloring, but they often have patches or spots of a normal color on their skin, Gatorland said in a statement.
The mother of the little alligator is colored, while the father is leucistic. Of the albino alligators, the white, leucistic individual differs in that the skin is transparent and the eyes are blue, while albinos have red or pink eyes.
The issue was reported by, among others, the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC and a news agency Associated Press.