Claude (World Rarest Albino Alligator), California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, United States

Claude is an albino alligator  at the California Academy of Sciences. Claude lacks the pigment melanin, which results in his skin color. Claude was hatched on 15 September 1995 in Florida weighing 2 ounces (57 g). He weighs 222 pounds (101 kg) and is 9 feet 5 inches (2.87 m) long. He has 76 teeth. A returning favorite from the original Steinhart Aquarium, the Swamp is best known as the home of Claude, the startlingly white Alligator mississippiensis that's become one of the Academy's most-famous residents.

However, that isn't to say that there aren't albino alligators born in the wild. As of right now, the oldest albino alligator on record is Claude, a 22-year-old alligator at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

He was in danger in the wilderness owing to albinism which did not allow him to camouflage into his surroundings like other alligators. There are only a couple of dozen known albino alligators in the world, all in captivity. Claude was taken to the California Academy of Sciences in 2008. In 2009, a finger on Claude's right claw was amputated after developing an infection from being bitten by another alligator.

Claude appears completely white because he lacks the pigment melanin. He also has poor eye-sight due to his albinism. The California Academy of Science, in the Steinhart Aquarium, as of 2015, has on display an albino American alligator named "Claude". The alligator is partially blind because of lack of pigment in its eyes. The only known albino alligators are in captivity.

White alligators are not a separate species but are considered extremely rare. There have only been a few documented occurrences of leucistic alligators.

But at the California Academy of Sciences, Claude the albino alligator is a star. He gets three private training sessions a week, followed by 15 fish pellets. The food is tossed inches from his jaw, so he doesn't have to search. His favorite rock is heated to varying temperatures, from 78 degrees to 95 degrees.

Albino alligators are normally found in freshwater rivers, lakes, swamps and marshes in southeastern parts of the United States. Albino alligators are extremely rare. Biologists estimate there are only about 100 existing in the world. They are the offspring of parents that carry the recessive gene for albinism, meaning they do not have the ability to create melanin to color their skin or eyes.

Albino alligators lack the pigment melanin. They are the offspring of two normal-looking alligators that carry the recessive gene for albinism. Albino alligators have ivory-white skin and pinkish eyes. The leucistic alligator usually has blue eyes and patches of normally colored skin on its body.