FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – For now, the two baby alligators bite like kittens.
But in a year or so, their jaws will be strong enough to break an arm.
Officials were wondering Saturday what motivated someone to steal two American alligators from the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, Fla., where hurt animals are rescued and rehabilitated.
The 6-inch-long alligators were discovered missing Thursday. At least one burglar apparently used a crowbar to pry open the gators’ cage, and nabbed the gators by grabbing them or scooping them up in a net, said sanctuary staffer Erika Adams.
A third baby alligator in the cage was left behind, she said.
The gators were hatched in September and had been used in educational programs, so they were accustomed to being handled.
“We don’t know what the motive is – if they want them as pets, if they’re selling them on a black market,” said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Dani Moschella. “It’s appalling.”
One thing’s for sure: The gators will turn from cute to deadly.
Gators grow about a foot a year until they reach about 6 to 8 feet in length, Adams said. As they mature, alligators lose their teeth and stronger ones grow in, she said.
“They’re very dangerous when they get to 2 feet,” Adams said. “That when they get their strong teeth.”
The sanctuary also has four adolescent alligators, but no other animals were taken during the break-in.
It’s a second-degree misdemeanor to possess an American alligator. Although there about 1 million alligators in Florida, they are considered a “threatened species,” which is one step below “endangered species.”
An immediate concern is what will happen to the alligators once they grow too big to wander the living room. People who have dangerous pets often dump them when they aren’t babies anymore, Moschella said.
“That happens a lot with pythons,” she said. “People get them when they’re cute and manageable, and get rid of them when they grow older.”
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(c) 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
AP-NY-12-03-05 1946EST
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