A Texas alligator sanctuary is working to keep gators contained as flood waters rise

BEAUMONT, TEXAS - While expansive flooding in Texas continues, a new, unanticipated concern surfaces.  Gator Country, an alligator sanctuary in Beaumont, is warning people that 350 alligators are at risk of escaping as rising flood waters near the top of fenced off enclosures.

Gator Country owner Gary Saurage has already caught two 13-foot alligators – Big Al and Big Tex – and managed to relocate them in a trailer. They’re reportedly safe and unable to escape their temporary home. But if they water level raises much more, odds for the majority getting loose increases dramatically.

Gator Country’s website states that they house over 450 reptiles. The majority of the alligator rescues Saurage conducts are from ponds, swimming pools and people’s backyards. He opened up in 2005 and right now is facing over 10 years of work being washed away.

The sanctuary is additionally a home to crocodiles and venomous snakes. Fortunately, they’re all accounted for and have also been securely placed in a trailer. The animals that cannot swim have been relocated to higher ground.

The compound where large alligators are housed has been assessed and all our accounted for. Though, Saurage declares that smaller ones making their way out is not unlikely.