What’s the Largest Alligator You Can Find at a Zoo?

Alligators are extremely common across the American south. Thankfully, most of them are rather small and don’t pose much of a threat to humans. Still, there are some monsters out there that are basically dinosaurs! Some of the largest alligators in the world are in the wild, but captive alligators can surpass even the wild ones. Today, we are going to discover the largest alligator you can find at a zoo! Let’s get started.

Big Tex Is Probably the Largest Captive Alligator in the United States

Knowing the details of the largest captive alligator in the United States can be rather tough. As it stands, Big Tex is one of the largest captive gators alive today. Big Tex is from Gator Country, an alligator adventure park located in Southeast Texas. Tex is roughly 14 feet long and weighs around 1,000 pounds!

Recently, Big Tex nearly gave up his record for the largest captive alligator when he was discovered to be missing from his pen back in 2019. The escape came after a major storm swept through the area, causing massive flooding and allowing the local gators to escape their ponds. Besides Big Tex, around three dozen other gators had gone missing.

Thankfully, they were all found. Knowing that the largest captive alligator is on the loose probably isn’t something that you want to hear! Still, the “gator hunters” knew that Big Tex wasn’t trying to escape and was probably just in a nearby area.

“We were unsure he had even escaped,” Warner said. “But when the water level went down, Big Tex wasn’t there.” Warner said that if the gator had left the premises, “he’d probably stay in the immediate vicinity.” On Friday afternoon, Big Tex was found near a pond on the 15-acre sanctuary’s property.

Science Alert

A Potential Usurper to Big Tex’s Throne

There is another potential candidate for the largest captive alligator on record, although there isn’t a lot of data surrounding him. Although Big Tex is one of the largest, there seems to be another gator in Florida that may be quite a bit larger.

Lung is a 15-foot alligator that lived at Native Village in Hollywood, Florida. Native Village has since shut down, and there is little information as to where the alligators were sent. If Lung was sent to another sanctuary, it’s possible that he is the real title holder for the largest gator in captivity. Without proof, however, it’s hard to know!

Several big alligators currently on display are worth a visit. Perhaps the nimblest and scariest is Lung, a 15-footer at Native Village in Hollywood, Florida, which we watched spinning and charging in repeated attempts to eat its keeper. Goliath “the serial killer” at Gatorama Wildlife Park in Palmdale is probably the meanest, a 14-footer who would be 16 feet if he hadn’t lost two feet of tail in a fight, and whose cage is hung with the skulls of nine other gators that he has bested in battle.

Roadside America

The Largest Wild Alligator in History

Although captive gators can get quite large, there is something about a wild alligator that makes things a bit more exciting! Wild alligators grew to their massive sizes without the help of humans and by hunting their food themselves.

There is some debate as to the largest alligator in history, but most agree that the record belongs to the Mandy Stokes alligator. This beast was captured in Alabama and measured 15 feet 9 inches, nearly 13 inches longer than the previous record. The gator weighed 1,011 pounds and is the largest as certified by the Safari Club International. Other gators have been reported and even caught, but none were officially documented.

How Many Alligators Are There?

There are two species of alligator, the American and Chinese alligators. The American alligator is much more numerous, and the Chinese alligator is facing extinction. There are over 3,000,000 wild American alligators in the world, with multiple more millions when you include the various alligator farms across the southern United States.

Up Next:

• Alligator vs. Crocodile: 6 Key Differences and Who Wins in a Fight
• Huge Florida Gator Eats a Smaller Florida Gator in Most Florida Video Ever
• Discover the Most Alligator Infested Lakes in Florida

The photo featured at the top of this post is © User: Achim Raschka, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons – License / Original