Auckland Zoo opens The Tropics for new alligators

Visitors to Auckland Zoo can now see four impressive new American alligators at a newly opened exhibit.
The eight-year-old female alligators arrived from Australia Zoo earlier this month, waiting out a quarantine period at the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine before joining the zooâs long-time resident alligator Doris in their new home.
Auckland Zoo Exotic Birds and Reptiles team leader Lana Judd says that it will be great for 30-year-old Doris to have other alligators for company, states that âDoris has lived alone for more than 10 years now, so it will be a massive change for her, but weâre confident that all the alligators will get on well together.
âThe new exhibit is fantastic - it really brings to life the American alligatorâs natural habitat of the swamps and wetlands of the south-eastern United States.�?
Auckland Zoo Life Sciences Manager, Kevin Buley, says that the new exhibit will be a part of a greater precinct called The Tropics, which will completed and open to the public later this year, adding âthe new exhibit and precinct will allow our visitors to take a journey through the tropics of the Florida swamps to the tropical rainforests of South America.�?
The zoo is calling on members of the public to help name its four newest residents. Along with having their suggested name chosen, the four winners will get the opportunity to meet with one of the zooâs reptile keepers at the exhibit to learn more about the alligators.

http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz