Nine-Foot Gator Fed Hams and Lunch Meat Gets New Life at Croc Encounters Sanctuary

A 9-foot alligator that spent years in a retention pond behind a Coca-Cola plant in the Tampa area has been relocated to a reptile sanctuary after neighbors grew worried about the animal and its safety.

Locals took to calling the reptile "Coca-Cola" because of where he lived. The pond sits near North 56th Street and East Fowler Avenue in Tampa, and residents of a nearby Temple Terrace neighborhood had grown used to the large gator in their midst.

Concern mounted when the pond dried up. Someone cut a hole in the fence surrounding it, possibly in the hope that the alligator would be able to leave on his own. A wildlife trapper then caught the animal last week and took him to Croc Encounters, a sanctuary that rescues reptiles and offers tours.

John Paner of Croc Encounters said a member of the community first contacted the sanctuary about the alligator and asked for advice. "It's a difficult situation," he said.

Paner estimated that the alligator weighs between 450 and 500 pounds. He said he had heard stories that people were feeding the animal regularly. "I heard stories of him getting lunch meat every day, chickens, someone said whole hams were being thrown to him, not really the best diet for an alligator," Paner said. He believes the gator was likely being fed and lost his fear of people as a result.

That stands in contrast to alligators living on their own. "Wild alligators are normally very slender. They got to work for their food and they don't typically eat a lot," Paner said.

At the sanctuary, Coca-Cola is now getting a diet better suited to a reptile, and Paner said he is adjusting well to his new surroundings.

Paner used the case to urge caution around wildlife. Living near an alligator is usually safe, he said, but that changes when people feed the animals. "Enjoy them from a distance, don't try to hurt them, don't try to catch them, don't try to feed them," he said.

The sanctuary hopes to move Coca-Cola into a new enclosure by July. Paner said the facility has an enclosure of about half an acre, and most of its alligators are being moved there. "In the near future, he's moving out to another pond," he said.

Croc Encounters offers tours for people who want to visit the sanctuary. Details are available on its website, crocencounters.com.