Zookeepers Forced to Relocate Massive Alligator After Flooding Rain at Australian Zoo
A massive American alligator had be relocated by zookeepers after flooding rain allowed the reptile to escape his enclosure at a New South Wales Central Coast zoo on February 22.
Torrential rain caused waters to rapidly rise in the lagoon housing 55 other alligators, allowing one of the alligators to swim over an internal boundary fence.
This footage taken by staff at the Australian Reptile Park shows keepers combining to neutralize the threat of the male alligator’s bite, before lifting him back over the boundary fence.
“We found him in a tricky spot this morning before the Park opened. Although there was no danger of him breaching the main boundary fence near visitors, there was still no way he would have been able to get back into the lagoon on his own,” a zookeeper said.
Severe storms brought flooding rain to the Central Coast and the Greater Sydney area. One part of the Central Coast recorded 143 millimetres of rain in three hours, while a Sydney golf club recorded 102 millimetres of rain, or four inches. Credit: Australian Reptile Park via Storyful
Video Transcript
- [INAUDIBLE] reptiles. Jack, we've got a gator stuck between the fences. The water's right up to the internal fence line, and I think he's just swum over the top. There he is. - Ranger Mick to Sam and Cooper. - Go ahead. - Hey, guys, we need to rope one of these gators.
