By JAVIER GONZALEZ
Big Padre, the largest rescued nuisance alligator residing at the South Padre Island Birding Nature Center and Alligator Sanctuary [SPIBNC&AS] will be celebrating his 56th birthday and everyone is invited to chomp on over to the center for his “Big” end-of-summer bash!
Big Padre was rescued from a boat ramp in Port Arthur, Texas where he was being fed fish scraps by fishermen, which is illegal in the state. Once fed by people, alligators are spoiled and become a safety threat by loitering around waiting to be fed. These alligators are deemed a “nuisance” by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. The fate of a nuisance alligator is sadly not a good one most of the time as they must be removed by law, and since they cannot be relocated back into the wild due to behavioral changes and their incredible homing ability, they are mostly terminated.
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