New development in bizarre case of half-mouthed alligator
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Eustacia Kanter Facebook / Gatorland Orlando
Alligators are dangerous predators, and have been known to be aggressive to humans with their formidable bite force.
Gators rely on their crushing bite to immobilise their prey. They seize their target in their jaws and can then do the 'death roll' to twist off limbs, or simply drag their prey beneath the water to drown it.
One alligator, however, may pose slightly less of a threat than many others.
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That's because it doesn't have a top jaw, the main means by which it can catch prey.
In the wild, this would likely be a death sentence to the animal as its jaws are its main way of hunting, so it would not be able to feed itself in the wild.
Eustacia Kanter spotted the alligator in Sanford, Florida.
She told FOX 35: "At first, my brain couldn't comprehend that its entire upper jaw was missing.
"When I realized, I felt terrible for him and snapped as good a photo as I could get with my cell phone standing at a distance so that I could share it and try to find help."
After the animal was captured, Kanter alerted people who work with alligators on a daily basis at Gatorland in Florida.
Not to be confused with Disneyland, Gatorland houses alligators who might not survive in the wild.
Savannah Boan from Gatorland confirmed that the alligator would be given a new home in Gatorland. That's right, she's actually gone to live on a farm somewhere where they have all the swamps and rotting carcasses she can eat.
Gator heaven.
Boan told FOX 35: "She’s a little bit skinny, but she looks to be pretty healthy and feisty, and we’re going to heal her up, we’re going to have our vet take a look at her, and she’s going to be great."
It's not clear exactly how the alligator managed to get into such bad shape. There are a few possibilities, such as boat propellors, or even an encounter with another larger alligator.
Boan added: "She looks like she had a hard time.
"The trapper that actually snagged her was a gentleman named Jerry. And Jerry said he thought it might look like a propeller got her."
Now a petition is out to give the latest arrival to Gatorland a name. People have come out with some interesting suggestions.
One suggested 'Shovel', while another put forward the slightly more formal 'Sir Edward Bottomlip III'.
There was one suggestion which stuck out though: 'Jaw'.