On Memorial Day weekend, a new American alligator exhibit will be opening at Stone Zoo!
The exhibit will feature three 5 to 7 foot alligators and will be a permanent seasonal exhibit at the zoo.
Also, to celebrate the opening of this new exhibit, Lyle the Crocodile, from the popular series of children’s books, will visit the Zoo on Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25 for storytime, a meet and greet, and zookeeper encounters, giving visitors the chance to learn more about crocodiles, alligators, and their similarities and differences.
The American alligator exhibit is a permanent seasonal exhibit at Stone Zoo. Visitors will be able to see the alligators on exhibit into the early fall.
In addition to the large adult alligators, visitors will also be able to see “gators” up close with the three smaller animals, measuring 1 foot long each, that will be featured program animals utilized by the zoo’s Education department.
Adult American alligators are extremely strong and formidable predators. They use their long, muscular tails to propel through the water and their incredible bite power to catch and hold onto prey. These animals help to control populations of prey species and also create “alligator holes,” which are invaluable to other species in dry seasons and winter. Red-bellied turtles, for example, incubate their eggs in old alligator nests, which consist of piled vegetation.
Male alligators can measure nearly 15 feet long, while females can measure 10 feet long. They are the most vocal of all crocodilians, and communication begins before babies even hatch out of their eggs. When they are ready to hatch, the young make high-pitched whining noises. Alligators commonly bellow and roar at one another, and the loud bellow can be heard up to 165 yards away. During courting, alligators emit cough-like purrs.
In the wild, American alligators can be found in freshwater swamps, marshes, rivers and lakes in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers this species threatened as populations are not entirely stable throughout its range.
