Hershey, Pa., 2012-08-07 — /travelprnews.com/ — Beginning today, visitors to ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park will see a new, rare beauty that thrives in the shaded building of the Southern Swamps region at the Zoo. The Zoo’s dainty, female albino alligator has traveled 875 miles to find its new home at ZooAmerica until December 31, 2012.
One of only 100 albino alligators known to exist in the world, the Zoo’s new addition exhibits only two colors – white skin and pink eyes – due to a genetic condition that inhibits the production of melanin, the dark brown pigment responsible for natural coloration.
The Zoo’s 5-foot-six-inch alligator weighs more than 26 pounds and is on loan from St. Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida. It was hatched four years ago in Cut Off, Louisiana by a licensed alligator farmer.
An albino alligator’s average survival rate in the wild is less than 24 hours because its skin makes it an easy target for predators and its scales are easily sunburned. In captivity, the reptile can live more than 60 years.
Known as “Swamp Ghosts,” albino alligators are believed to bring good luck to those who look the animal in the eye.
ZooAmerica Facebook fans will have the opportunity to vote on the name of its ghostly gator until Wednesday, August 8.
This is the second time the Zoo has exhibited an albino alligator in more than a decade.
ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park is an 11-acre, year-round, walk-through zoo that is home to more than 200 animals representing more than 60 North American species. Open daily, ZooAmerica is one of only eight zoos in Pennsylvania accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and prides itself on following its mission of conservation.
For more information about ZooAmerica and its limited-time addition, visit www.ZooAmerica.com or call 717-534-3900.
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