Sorry Ladies: South Bay's Famed Alligator Reggie Is Off The Market

Reggie, Los Angeles’ most famous reptile, finally found the right gal.

The American alligator that spent two years evading wranglers and startling visitors at Lake Machado in Harbor City before finally getting captured and sent to the Los Angeles Zoo, has spent the last seven months shacked up with Tina, a seven-foot gator transferred from the Pasadena Humane Society in August. It’s Reggie’s second stab at companionship following a failed effort to pair him with a female gator in 2010.

Tina and Reggie got off to a rocky start, admitted zoo officials, but as of late, the pair is showing signs of settling into comfortable companionship.

“This is really the best case scenario when introducing two alligators who are used to living alone,” said Ian Recchio, Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians at the Los Angeles Zoo. “It was a labor intensive process helping these two alligators grow comfortable with each other, and it required a lot of patience from the animal keepers as they kept a close eye on the pair. But, Reggie and Tina have come a long way since August, and we can already see how positively guests are responding to the fact that Reggie now has a roommate.”

The two recently awoke from brumation, a hibernation-like state, and have been swimming, floating and sunning together. But the zoo's April Spurlock says the courtship doesn't necessarily mean wedding bells for Reggie. Zoo staff don’t view the cohabitation as a breeding effort -- in other words, the two will only be roommates.

"Tina isn't a breeding partner for Reggie," Spurlock said in August when Tina made the move."They'll share the same habitat and hopefully get along as friendly companions."

Both gators are believed to be in their 20s, Spurlock said. The two have much in common. Both are believed to be former pets abandoned when they grew too big. But Tina is Lady to Reggie’s Tramp. She spent 18 years under the nurturing care of the staff at the Pasadena Humane Society who were forced to give her up last year when she grew too big for her enclosure. It was bittersweet for the staff.

"It is a very bittersweet day," Ricky Whitman, vice president of community relations for the Humane Society said at the time. "She's been a large part of our shelter here for easily 18 years."

Reggie, on the other hand, was as street-smart as an alligator can be in the heart of a big city. He was first spotted at Lake Machado in Harbor city in the summer of 2005. Authorities said a resident who was raising exotic animals at his home dumped Reggie into the lake after he grew too big. Alligators are not native to California, and keeping them as pets is illegal.

Several animal wranglers attempted to catch Reggie after he was first spotted. They included a team from Florida's Gatorland theme park, a Hurricane Katrina refugee who called himself "T-Bone" and "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, who tried unsuccessfully to track down the gator and, before his death, had vowed to return.

Reggie managed to avoid capture until May 2007, when he was spotted sunning himself on the bank of Lake Machado by a Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department maintenance worker who summoned a posse, including several L.A. firefighters, who were then finally able to corral the gator.

Until then, the effort to capture Reggie, along with security measures to protect the public at the park, had cost the city $180,000, officials said.

Alligators are native to wetlands throughout the southeastern United States. Males can grow up to 14 feet in length, while females can reach eight feet in length, according to zoo officials. In 1967, alligators were listed as an endangered species, but they have since recovered.

“The L.A. Zoo has almost always had male and female pairs of alligators on display since it opened 50 years ago, and now we are lucky to have a pair on exhibit again,” said Recchio. “There is a significant difference in size between males and females, and our visitors might get lucky and witness some of the amazing behaviors these crocodilians display as a pair.”

City News Service contributed to this report. Photos courtesy of the LA Zoo