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Miami Herald

‘Brave little gator' with missing top jaw is thriving at Florida park. See Jawlene

An alligator with a missing upper jaw is thriving at her 'forever home' in Florida almost two years after she was rescued from the wild, a video shows. Someone first spotted the disfigured alligator — now named Jawlene — in August 2023 at a canoe launch about 20 miles north of Orlando and snapped a photo of the creature that soon went viral, McClatchy News reported. 'This brave little gator made headlines around the globe when she was found in the wild here in Florida,' Gatorland international ambassador Savannah Boan said in a March 21 post on Instagram. 'The amazing folks at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent legendary trapper Jerry Flynn to rescue her, and he brought her straight to us here at Gatorland Orlando.' The theme park houses a variety of animal habitats, including alligators and crocodiles. Jawlene showed steady signs of improvement that included gaining 2 pounds after only two months there, McClatchy News reported. 'Thanks to our Gatorland Global Conservation Program, Jawlene now lives her best life in alligator paradise!' Boan said in the post. 'She shares a massive habitat with her bestie — an albino red-eared slider turtle named Nelly Wafer — and they get along just fine!' A video shows Boan tossing scraps of meat into — err, onto? — the gator's exposed lower jaw and tongue as an instrumental version of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' plays softly in the background. One of the pieces of meat doesn't quite make it into her throat and flops over the edge of her jaw into the water in her habitat. 'Jawlene may be missing her top jaw, but she's got a whole lot of fight, a huge fan base, and the love of her forever home right here at Gatorland!' Boan said in the post. Several people commented about how much the young gator has grown since arriving at the facility. 'She's living a good life now,' someone said. 'Look how big she's gotten.' 'It is crazy to believe that she had survived as long as she did in the wild on her own,' someone said. Some called her inspirational. 'She's so darn adorable, what an inspiration she is,' someone said. It's unknown what caused Jawlene's deformity, though it was likely from another gator or predator in the wild, Gatorland staff said in previous videos. 'Jawlene is a testament to the strength and resilience of the American Alligator,' Gatorland Orlando wrote in the caption on a video from December 2023. 'She is a real American treasure, just like Dolly Parton, who sings the song that was the inspiration for Jawlene's name.'