A video of a massive alligator was caught on video casually waltzing at the Circle B Bar Reserve nature preserve near Lakeland in Florida.
The video, filmed and posted in Facebook by Kim Joiner, quickly caught the attention of different Facebook users. With currently 880,000 views and 10,016 shares, the video has already reached stardom and became the talk of the town.
Facebook users who also reside in the state of Florida commented that alligators with the same size as in the video is a usual occurrence in their swamps and other nature reserves. However, some users have also suspected that the uploaded video is faked or the gator is mechanized. Wildlife and reptile experts believe that the alligator in the video and the video itself is real.
"The largest published size record for the American alligator is a 14 ft. 9.25 in. individual that was killed in Alabama in 2014," said David A. Steen, a wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist, in a report from National Geographic. "The American alligator in the video does not look nearly as big as those record-holders and I have no reason to suspect it is a fake."
Ian Recchio, curator of reptiles at Los Angeles Zoo, commented that the gator in the video appears to be authentic. It is most certainly to be an American alligator. The massive size of the gator suggests that it is probably male.
Like crocodiles, alligators can grow throughout their lifespan. However, female alligators are noticeably smaller and don't usually grow past ten feet.
Sightings of very large alligators and crocodiles suggest that the conservation efforts to prevent the extinction of the huge reptiles are working. Due to their scary appearance and predatory nature, alligators and crocodiles were persecuted and were nearly hunted to extinction.
Experts believe that the large alligators being spotted in the swamps and reserves in Florida are mature alligators, which weren't around in the past due to excessive persecution and hunting.