SUN-SENTINEL (Ft Lauderdale, Florida) 04 December 05 Stolen baby gators will be big problem (Josh Hafenbrack )
For now, the two baby alligators bite like kittens.
But in a year or so, their jaws will be strong enough to break an arm.
Officials were wondering Saturday what motivated someone to steal two American alligators from the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, where hurt animals are rescued and rehabilitated.
The six-inch long alligators were discovered missing Thursday. At least one burglar apparently used a crowbar to pry open the gators' cage, and grabbed them or scooped them up with a net, said sanctuary worker Erika Adams.
A third baby alligator in the cage was left behind, she said.
The gators were hatched in September and had been used in educational programs, so they were accustomed to being handled.
"We don't know what the motive is -- if they want them as pets, if they're selling them," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Dani Moschella. "It's appalling."
One thing's for sure: The gators will turn from darling to deadly.
Gators grow about a foot a year until they reach about 6 to 8 feet in length, Adams said. As they mature, alligators lose their teeth and stronger ones grow in, she said.
"They're very dangerous when they get to two feet [long]," Adams said. "That's when they get their strong teeth."
The sanctuary also has four adolescent alligators, but no other animals were taken during the break-in.
It's a second-degree misdemeanor to possess an American alligator. Although there are about 1 million alligators in Florida, they are considered a "threatened species," which is one step below "endangered species."
An immediate concern is what would happen to the alligators once they grow too big to wander the living room. People who have dangerous pets often dump them when they aren't babies anymore, Moschella said.
"That happens a lot with pythons," she said. "People get them when they're cute and manageable, and get rid of them when they grow older."
Stolen baby gators will be big problem