Remembering Claude the Albino Alligator 🐊 (1985 - 2025)

Claude (September 15, 1995 – December 2, 2025) was an albino American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.

Biography
Claude was hatched on September 15, 1995, in Louisiana, weighing 2 ounces (57 g) at birth. He was in danger in the wild owing to albinism, which did not allow him to camouflage into his surroundings like other alligators. He was initially raised at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida.

Claude was taken to the California Academy of Sciences in 2008. He was originally housed with a non-albino female alligator named Bonnie. In January 2009, Bonnie bit one of Claude's right fingers. The finger developed an infection and needed to be amputated. Bonnie was subsequently moved back to Florida. In April 2025, the California Academy of Sciences launched the 'Claude Cam', a 24/7 livestream of Claude. Claude was used as a teaching tool and an emblem of the Academy of Sciences. He was trained with voice commands and, according to biologist Emma Kocina, knew his name.

Claude weighed 300 pounds (140 kg) and was 10 feet (3.0 m) long by 2025. He had 76 teeth. He appeared completely white because he lacked the pigment melanin. He had poor eyesight due to his albinism.

Claude died on December 2, 2025, at the age of 30. His appetite had recently declined and he had been treated for a suspected infection; a necropsy revealed that he died of liver cancer.