| Gatorama | |
|---|---|
 Photograph March 2012 | |
 | |
| Slogan | Play Wild! |
| Date opened | 1957 |
| Location | Palmdale |
| Owner | Allen and Patty Register |
| Website | www |
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Gatorama is an alligator farm and visitor attraction in Palmdale, Florida, USA. Alligators and crocodiles are raised on the farm for meat and skins. [1] Gatorama is one of Florida's oldest roadside attractions. [2] [3] [4] Only six alligator farms are open to the public as attractions. [5]
Cecil Clemons opened the farm in 1957. [6] [5] [7] The alligators were captured locally in the 1960s. [7] Wild crocodiles were caught in Jamaica in 1967-1968. [7]
Allen and Patty Register acquired the property in 2006. [6] [8]
Visitors can hold baby alligators as well as pythons. [2] [6] Adult participants can perform the "Fast Hands Challenge" to feed an adult alligator. [9] The daily feed show is free with admission, where guests can watch keepers hand feed alligators from the front bridge. [9]
Gatorama has an exhibit dedicated to the critically endangered subspecies Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius). [10] The park works with Florida Fish and Wildlife's Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) program to rehome nuisance alligators. [11] [12] [13]
Gatorama also features other native Florida wildlife such as the Florida panther, bobcats, racoons, birds, and snakes. [6] [5] [8]
In late August, Gatorama hosts an annual Gator Hatchling Festival where visitors can hold an alligator egg while it hatches. [3] [6] [5]
Gatorama also sells exotic meat at the park and on their website. [14] [15]
Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans, the gharial and false gharial among other extinct taxa.
Crocodilia is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles known as crocodilians. They first appeared 94 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period and are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria. Members of the order's total group, the clade Pseudosuchia, appeared about 250 million years ago in the Early Triassic period, and diversified during the Mesozoic era. The order Crocodilia includes the true crocodiles, the alligators and caimans, and the gharial and false gharial. Although the term crocodiles is sometimes used to refer to all of these, crocodilians is a less ambiguous vernacular term for members of this group.
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator and the Chinese alligator. Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the Oligocene epoch about 37 million years ago.
The American alligator, sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the genus Alligator, and is larger than the only other living alligator species, the Chinese alligator.
The Chinese alligator, also known as the Yangtze alligator, China alligator, or historically the muddy dragon, is a crocodilian endemic to China. It and the American alligator are the only living species in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. Dark gray or black in color with a fully armored body, the Chinese alligator grows to 1.5–2.1 metres (5–7 ft) in length and weighs 36–45 kilograms (80–100 lb) as an adult. It brumates in burrows in winter and is nocturnal in summer. Mating occurs in early summer, with females most commonly producing 20–30 eggs, which are smaller than those of any other crocodilian. The species is an opportunistic feeder, primarily eating fish and invertebrates. A vocal species, adults bellow during the mating season and young vocalize to communicate with their parents and other juveniles. Captive specimens have reached age 70, and wild specimens can live past 50.
The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts of Mexico to as far south as Peru and Venezuela.
Crocodile tears, or superficial sympathy, is a false, insincere display of emotion such as a hypocrite crying fake tears of grief. The phrase derives from an ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey, and as such is present in many modern languages, especially in Europe where it was introduced through Latin. While crocodiles do have tear ducts, they weep to lubricate their eyes, typically when they have been out of water for a long time and their eyes begin to dry out. However, evidence suggests this could also be triggered by feeding.
Gatorland is a 110-acre (45 ha) theme park and wildlife preserve in Florida, located along South Orange Blossom Trail south of Orlando. It was founded in 1949 by Owen Godwin on former cattle land, and is privately owned by his family.
A sewer alligator is an alligator that lives in sewers. These accounts are mostly fictional and are rare to encounter. Stories date back to the late 1920s and early 1930s; in most instances they are part of contemporary legend. They are based upon reports of alligator sightings in rather unorthodox locations, in particular New York City.
The Orinoco crocodile is a critically endangered crocodile. Its population is very small, and they can only be found in the Orinoco river basin in Venezuela and Colombia. Extensively hunted for their skins in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is one of the most endangered species of crocodiles. It is a very large species of crocodilian; males have been reported up to 6.8 m in the past, weighing over 900 kg (2,000 lb), but such sizes do not exist today, 5.2 m being a more widely accepted maximum size. A large male today may attain 4.2 m in length and can weigh up to 450 kg (1,000 lb), while females are substantially smaller with the largest likely to weigh around 225 kg (496 lb). Sexual dimorphism is not as profound as in other crocodilian species. The coloration is light even in adults.
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is one of Florida's oldest continuously running attractions, having opened on May 20, 1893. It has 24 species of crocodilians, and also a variety of other reptiles, mammals and birds, as well as exhibits, animal performances and educational demonstrations.
The Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo is a privately owned zoo located on Whittington Avenue in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators and crocodiles are farmed internationally. In Louisiana alone, alligator farming is a $60 to $70 million industry. And most crocodile farms are in Thailand.
The Crocodile Zoo is a zoo on the Danish island of Falster. It is located northeast of Eskilstrup, towards the northern centre of the island. Established in 2000, the zoo has the world's largest collection of crocodilians with almost all existing species. Their male Nile crocodile Sobek, at more than 5 m (16.5 ft) long and 600 kg (1,300 lb) in weight, is the largest crocodilian in Europe, and Medusa, a 6.3 m (20.5 ft) reticulated python, is among the largest snakes in Europe. Although primarily focussed on crocodilians, the zoo is also home to cougar (puma), clouded leopard, tayra, callitrichid monkeys, parrots and giant tortoises.
Alligator meat is the meat from alligators that is for consumption. It has been used both historically and in contemporary times in various cuisines of the Southern United States. Alligator eggs can also be consumed. Alligator meat is high in protein and low in fat, and has a mild flavor and firm texture.
Everglades Holiday Park is an attraction park situated on 29 acres of wetlands in the Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The park is located on the western end of Griffin Road, off U.S. 27. Everglades Holiday Park is not affiliated with Everglades National Park.
Depicting African-American children as alligator bait was a common trope in American popular culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. The motif was present in a wide array of media, including newspaper reports, songs, and visual art.
Everglades Alligator Farm is a wildlife park in Miami-Dade County, Florida, nearby the city of Homestead and the entrance of Everglades National Park. It claims to be the oldest and largest alligator farm in South Florida, along with containing over 2,000 alligators. Additionally, it provides airboat rides through the Floridian wilderness.
