70 Coins Removed From Stomach Of Thibodaux The White Alligator

Anyone who’s ever had a puppy or a toddler will know how hard it is to keep them from eating things they shouldn’t. However, zookeepers and vets were quite surprised to find coins in the belly of a leucistic alligator called Thibodaux during a routine health check.

Thibodaux lives at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium as one of their 10 American alligators. Every so often, the team conducts regular health checks to make sure they are all healthy, the animals engage in a regular training program to prepare them for these checks and minimize stress to the animals.

During one of these checks on the 36-year-old leucistic American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), the team discovered something rather unusual in the belly of the beast. On February 15, Thibodaux underwent a veterinary procedure to remove 70 US coins from his stomach. 

~”With the help of his training, Thibodaux was anesthetized and intubated to allow us to safely manage him during the procedure,” said Christina Ploog, an associate veterinarian at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium who led the procedure, in a post on the zoo’s Facebook page.

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The objects were removed via a small pipe inserted into the alligator’s mouth, which along with a camera helped the team safely remove all the objects from his insides. 

Male American alligators grow to an average of 3.4 meters (11.2 feet). They are only found in North America, where they have a conservation status of Least Concern on the ICUN Red List. According to National Geographic American alligators can live to around 50 years old and go through as many as 3,000 teeth in a lifetime. 

The keepers report that Thibodaux is back in his enclosure and has recovered well from the procedure. “Though a procedure like the one done on Thibodaux is not always common, it’s a great example of what our animal care and animal health teams do every day across our campus to provide excellent care to our animals,” said Taylor Yaw, Zoo veterinarian and director of animal health. 

Leucism is a genetic condition where cells don’t produce as much of the pigment melanin as they usually would, leading to a white or colorless appearance. Other genetic color variations include albinism and melanism, which can be seen all across the animal kingdom.

The team stresses that no coins or any objects should be thrown into any of the zoo’s enclosures, and any spare coins can be given as a donation.