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Alligator adventure1/2/2024 ![]() Spawned by growing exploration of the world, man’s fascination with dangerous wildlife and the desire to interact with it safely, zoos are at their best when the animals are happy and healthy-a daunting task. It seems zookeepers, the good ones anyway, have learned something over the course of millennia, since the first zoos were created in Egypt around 1500 B.C. Enrichment might be food, it could be toys, it could be a new giant log from which to perch it’s any and all of the things that come together to make life for the animals as stress-free and fulfilling as possible. The food, toys and interaction fall under the general term “enrichment,” a word I would hear over and over throughout the day from the zookeepers I would meet. The habitat is double-checked and the cats seem happy. “But you’ll never see one in the wild,” he says. I learn that bobcats live in the wild in every U.S. In a matter of minutes, the exhibit is cleaned, the cats have plenty of fresh water and a few toys, and a special breakfast is served. ![]() “I hand raised these guys from kittens.”Ĭorrell works through a series of tasks well-practiced over a 25-year training period. “These are some of my favorites,” Correll says as we neared the bobcat exhibit. Though the day is still cool and sunny, it will get warmer and much louder gradually over the next several hours. The only noises come from the occasional exotic bird squawking from some unseen part of the attraction. It’s quiet at the zoo in these hours before guests arrive, a time when it’s a joy to see the animals and learn about them from the guy best suited to the task. Now, two hours before the gates open and an hour before the majority of the staff arrives, it’s time to start cleaning and feeding the zoo’s other residents. We will get up close and personal at his feeding later. He’s been at Alligator Adventure since 2002, and lives in a 5,000-square-foot enclosure with a 30,000-gallon private, freshwater pond, and he is priceless. Utan is around 20-feet long and weighs around 2,000 lbs. Utan and his siblings were raised at a croc farm south of Bangkok, Thailand, where the two species accidentally co-mingled, and produced these oversized animals. He’s a hybrid between a saltwater croc and a Siamese croc.” “Utan is 58,” says Correll, “and he could easily live to be 100. ![]() This continued for a moment until I figured out how to ask the question properly. OK, how long can alligators live in captivity? ![]() He’s patiently listened to and answered every question asked by guests, and even intrusive journalists tagging along for the day.Īs we pass by Utan (pronounced OO’-tan), “The King of the Crocs,” and the largest animal of his kind in North America (likely one of the largest in the world), I start with the dumb questions. A small army of staff work the 15-acre attraction, and share Correll’s commitment to the wide variety of species at the zoo and the enjoyment of the zoo’s guests.Ĭorrell, who’s worked full time at Alligator Adventure since he was 15 years old, considers himself part of the family of lemurs, crocodiles, cats (large and small), hyenas, birds, reptiles and, of course, alligators. Often the first to arrive at 7 a.m., and sometimes the last to leave, 39-year-old Travis Correll, the Zoological Operations Manager for Alligator Adventure in North Myrtle Beach, knows what it takes to keep the animals in his care happy, healthy and well adjusted something zookeepers call “enrichment.” He also knows he can’t do it alone. Zoological Operations Manager Travis Correll poses with Castro, an iguana. According to a sign next to Bob's pen, his disability "would have led to his death" in the wild, but at Alligator Adventure he will be protected as a lovable mascot.Īlligator Adventure's feeding show is a scaled-down version of Gatorland's "Jumparoo" extravaganza, with the bulky reptiles leaping out of a pond to grab hunks of chicken held by an employee who cracks jokes into a microphone held in his other hand.Īfterward you can contemplate the park's several unusual bronze sculptures, including one of two children leading a gator on a leash, and another that allows you to stick your head into an alligator's bronze toothy mouth.7:37 a.m. We did, however, get a good close-up view of "Bob," a freak alligator born without a tail. The star attraction of Alligator Adventure is "Utan, King of the Crocs." Reportedly over 20 feet long, he was nearly invisible in his murky play-pool during our visit. It claims to be the home of 750 alligators, and offers plenty of photo-ops of gators basking on the muddy banks of their artificial lagoons - a satisfying experience for those not otherwise familiar with these lumbering, hissing, mostly inert dinosaurs. Although not as grand as the lavish gator farms of Florida, Alligator Adventure is the furthest north, and thus closest, gator attraction to cities of the alligator-deprived Northeast.
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