Gatorama
Photograph March 2012
SloganPlay Wild!
Date opened1957
LocationPalmdale
OwnerAllen and Patty Register
Websitewww.gatorama.com

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]

History

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]

Attractions

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]

References

  1. ↑ "Gatorama Alligator Farm". Gatorama. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  2. 1 2 "Pictures: Gatorama". Chicago Tribune. 2018-05-05. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  3. 1 2 "Gatorama". My Old Florida. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  4. ↑ Mays, Dorothy (2009). "Gatorland: Survival of the Fittest among Florida's Mid-Tier Tourist Attractions". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 87 (4): 509–539. ISSN 0015-4113.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Meer, Elizabeth Vander (2017-11-03). "Alligator Song: A Challenge to Spectacle, Product, and Menace". Society & Animals. 28 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1163/15685306-12341480. ISSN 1568-5306.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Caceres, Vanessa (2018-09-07). "Gatorama: Grunts, Hisses and Old Florida Charm". Visit Florida. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  7. 1 2 3 Garrick, Leslie D.; Lang, Jeffrey W. (1977). "Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles". American Zoologist. 17 (1): 225–239. ISSN 0003-1569.
  8. 1 2 "Gatorama". local.aarp.org. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  9. 1 2 "Animal Encounters". Gatorama. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  10. ↑ "ORINOCO CROCODILE". Gatorama. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  11. ↑ "NUISANCE ALLIGATOR POD". Gatorama. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  12. ↑ Worley, Debra (2023-02-20). "Alligator living with tape around its mouth freed and relocated". WWNY. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  13. ↑ "Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program". Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  14. ↑ Jacobson, Susan (2015-03-31). "Appetite for gator meat grows in Florida". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  15. ↑ "Reptile chic: UF wildlife ecologist says Florida alligator farmers cashing in on fashion trend - News - University of Florida". news.ufl.edu. 2006-03-27. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
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