ORLANDO, FL (AP) – Social media is going ‘wild’ trying to help name the injured alligator that lost its nose and upper jaw to a fight or boat propeller.
The gator first captured nationwide attention when Gatorland in Orlando posted a video of the injured reptile on its Facebook page on Friday, Sept. 15. The gator was rescued from a lake in Sanford, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando, for protection and rehabilitation.
“She had basically no chance of surviving in the wild with such a severe injury,” the park said in a social media post.
Since then, Gatorland VLOGS, the park’s YouTube channel, posted a video featuring the gator’s first vet visit and updates on its condition.
Dr. James Bogan, a veterinarian at the Critter Fixer of Central Florida who examined the gator in the video, was perplexed by its survival: Since the gator is missing its nose, it breathes through a healed-over hole inside its mouth, instead.
According to Bogan, the gator is underweight due to its difficulty eating. In the video, she measured at 49 inches long but weighed just 3.3 kilograms – that’s about 7.3 pounds.
“That’s a lot going against her – being that thin,” said Bogan in the video. “She’s got to come back from a lot.”
In the YouTube video, veterinarians fed the gator red meat by pushing it into the back of the gator’s throat. They believe it had survived in the wild doing the same thing on its own with snails, slugs and frogs, Kathy Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the park, said in an email. The park is now working on creating a feeding plan for the gator, which may involve assisted feeding or tube feeding if necessary.
And competition for food might have been how it got injured in the first place. Marks on the gator’s lower jaw show the injury was a result of a sharp break, and Bogan suspects it may have been another alligator that bit off its jaw.
Still, the team at Gatorland is hopeful about the injured gator’s recovery.
“I’ve seen alligators come back from way bigger injuries than this,” said Gatorland’s Savannah Boan. “This little girl’s got a lot of fight in her, and I think she’s going to be fine.”
Bogan agreed, adding that the gator has a better chance of starting to eat on its own and gaining some weight now that it isn’t competing with other alligators.
“It’s a long, steep road ahead of her,” said Bogan, “and that degree of malnutrition – it’s going to be tricky to get over it, but we have hope.”
The park’s veterinarian staff will continue monitoring the gator in an effort to make sure it is eating in a stress-free environment, the park said.
The team has yet to name the gator, and they’re asking for name submissions in the comment section of the YouTube video and on its Facebook page. Dozens of names have been submitted.
Some suggestions include:
Allie
Hope
Gumdrop
Jawlene – inspired by the Dolly Parton song ‘Jolene’
Lucky
Milagro – Spanish for Miracle
Scoop
Snout
Uno
Gatorland Orlando is home to thousands of alligators and crocodiles, a breeding marsh, an aviary, a nature walk, a petting zoo and educational wildlife programs. It opened in 1949 and is considered one of the few remaining “Old Florida” tourist attractions in central Florida.