Claude, the albino alligator that was a leading attraction for many years at San Francisco’s Academy of Sciences, died suddenly last week of liver failure.
That was the result of a necroscopy performed on Claude by experts with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the Steinhart Aquarium.
Claude, who was hatched in Louisiana 30 years ago, had been kept in captivity since 2008.
SFGate reported that the 300-pound alligator had been monitored by Academy staff in recent weeks because of a declining appetite. Claude had been moved from his swamp enclosure recently for treatment of an infection.
