Decades ago the traditionally marked gator was placed on the endangered species list due to over hunting. Their hides were in great demand as they are today.

The nutria or coypu (Myocastor coypus) was introduced to Louisiana in the 1930s for their fur. They were then introduced into the wild to eat the destructive water hyacinth. With their natural enemy, the alligator, dwindling away, they quickly took over the wetlands.

The Louisiana Land and Exploration Company (LL&E), the largest private owner of wetlands in the United States, started an alligator-breeding project that would repopulate the wild kingdom and that could also satisfy commercial demands.

Thanks to the overpopulation of nutria, they knew that they would have an overabundance of food to feed these remarkable creatures.

The nutria trappers used the fur but were discarding the unused meat. Now they were able to sell the meat by-products to LL&E’s gator farm, creating a win-win situation for all parties.

As part of the repopulation project, the LL&E removed gator hatchlings from the wild just after birth and raised them at their specially constructed farm. In the fall of 1987, one LL&E team was due to pick up hatchlings from several nests under observation. It was then that they came across an extremely rare find…18 white alligators in one nest!

These are not albino alligators, as you might assume. They are LEUCISTIC; a gene mutation gives them their white color and steely blue eyes.

Eastern mythology holds the white alligators to be symbols of extraordinary good luck. Unfortunately they do not have the luck themselves, as they are vulnerable to enemies in their natural environment without the protective camouflage that their peers possess. This is possibly why there have been no known discoveries in history. The 18 hatchlings that were discovered were, unfortunately, all males. LL&E hoped that the white gene was dominant, as they were planning to try breeding these males with traditionally marked females. They are still hoping to one day come across a leucistic female in the wild to breed these beautiful white chocolate males with.

Unfortunately, the gene mutation of these creatures causes them to have poor immune systems and they don’t generally live as long as their camouflaged counterparts. They are very similar to the albino alligators, only they retain some of the melanin in their eyes. That is why the eyes are blue and not red like an albino’s. They are sensitive to the sunlight but are not as badly affected as an albino is. To see these magnificent creatures you will need to come to Bayou Country and visit the Aquarium of the Americas and the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

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