350 Alligators May Escape Flooded Gator Sanctuary In Texas
Gator Country, an alligator sanctuary in Beaumont, Texas is surrounded by water and is inches away from their alligators being able to escape.
Gator Country is located right off FM 365 in Beaumont, Texas and is reeling from the flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The sanctuary has over 350 alligators housed outdoors on the property and even more on the inside of the buildings. But the flooding could release all those alligators when the waters get higher. Owner Gary Saurage says he and his staff have been working around the clock to try and keep the animals inside the certified, high fences but say they now they don't know what to do. Saurage told Beaumont's Fox 4 News:
"We're less than a foot a foot from (water) going over the fences. All of these are certified, high fences, but when it won't quit, it won't quit. We've worked around the clock and I don't know what else to do. We're truly tired. Everybody's at the end of it, man. We don't know what to do. I've never seen (the water) stay anywhere near this before. The staying power of this storm is just unbelievable."
Saurage says Gator Country staff were able to capture and move crocodiles, venomous snakes and other animals not native to the area and move them to higher ground so they wouldn't be at risk of escaping. But alligators are native to the area and Saurage says he doesn't have the resources to move the animals. Gator Country usually takes calls to help locals safely remove alligators in the area but right now, they say they their focusing their efforts on containing their gators on the property. During severe storms gator sightings can increase in the area, but Saurage says right now they aren't able to go out and help. Instead they are advising residents if they see a gator on their property to wait the animal out and not go outside or interact with the animal. As of this posting, the gators have not escaped but we will update this post if that changes.