![]() If Reggie perceived a sound or movement as threatening, he simply swam away. He was just a regular alligator, behaving as an alligator would in a setting far more suited to his needs than to those of his pursuers. It’s not that Reggie was an extraordinarily canny alligator, craftily outwitting his would-be captors. Gators are the semiaquatic equivalent of coyotes, said Ian Recchio, the zoo’s reptile curator: canny, omnivorous, adept at snatching food and avoiding predators. Fossils show that the form of the American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis) has remained virtually unchanged in the last 8 million years, as if it had simply opted out of evolution. Somewhere in between is when a lot of exotic pet owners reach the same conclusion that Reggie’s former handlers did: The gator had to go.Īlligators, though, are nothing if not survivors.Ĭrocodilian reptiles appeared on the planet alongside dinosaurs some 95 million years ago and have hung on ever since. ![]() Hatchlings have big eyes, snubby little snouts and can fit in the palm of your hand.Ī 10-year-old American alligator, on the other hand, can be 6 feet long and strong enough to bite through bone. Pet alligators are illegal in California, but they’re not hard to come by. Reggie was placed there by two reptile enthusiasts who’d raised him in their San Pedro homes, alongside snapping turtles, piranhas, rattlesnakes and desert tortoises. That said, Lake Machado at that time was not the worst place to do it. There is no good place in Los Angeles to set an alligator free. An alligator brain is the size of a peanut. What Reggie makes of his unusual life story is a mystery. A decent chunk of L.A.’s budget - $180,000 - went to Reggie-related expenses. His name appeared in headlines from Long Beach to London. ![]() You could buy T-shirts emblazoned with Reggie’s likeness. But once upon a time - before P-22, before Grumpy Cat and Doug the Pug - people gathered by the hundreds just to catch a glimpse of the celebrity gator. Some visitors stop to read it a lot of them don’t. He lives companionably with a female named Tina, and if you think it’s easy for two alligators to pair up later in life without trying to bite each other’s limbs off, well, you don’t know a lot about alligators.īetween the two fences that separate Reggie’s enclosure from the public is a sign with the thumbnail version of his remarkable journey to the Los Angeles Zoo 15 years ago today. When it’s chilly, he doesn’t do much of anything. Credit: St.Reggie, the most famous alligator in Los Angeles, lives in a beautifully landscaped midcentury dwelling just outside Los Feliz. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the incident. WPBF 25 News reported neighbors said the gator lunged out of the water and grabbed the woman.Ī short time later, trappers found the gator lurking at the bottom of the lake and pulled it out. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office released footage showing the capture at Spanish Lakes Fairways retirement community, where the woman was walking her dog when the attack happened. A 10-foot alligator was captured after it fatally attacked an 85-year-old woman in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Monday, February 20, local media reported citing wildlife officials.
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