Phillips Park Zoo Alligators Will Move To Sanctuary In Michigan

AURORA, IL — Two longtime Phillips Park Zoo alligators are now Michigan residents.

After outgrowing their indoor habitat at the downtown Aurora zoo, mates Irwin and Alice were transferred to Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary, an educational outdoor reptile facility in Athens, Michigan, officials announced.

The decision to rehouse the alligators was a difficult one, according to zoo staff, "zookeepers knew the best quality of life for the growing gators would be in a more spacious, natural environment."

The now-empty exhibit at Phillips Park Zoo will house other small reptiles as city officials review the possibility of a major renovation of Phillips Park and the zoo, according to a news release.

Irwin, 19, and Alice, 24, were first brought to Phillips Park Zoo in 2006 and 2001, respectively, after they were confiscated as illegally kept pets. At the time, both were 2 years old, measured less than two feet and didn't even weigh 100 pounds.

Over the years, both gators grew in size and love, officials said. Irwin weighs nearly 600 pounds and measures about 10 feet long, while Alice is 300 pounds and 7 feet long — and neither is done growing.

A trained large animal transfer specialist and certified zookeeper safely and successfully removed the alligators from their drained 3,000-gallon enclosure before Phillips Park zookeepers personally transported them to Michigan, officials said.

"Irwin and Alice have been a crowd favorite for thousands of children for decades as they visited the reptile house at Phillips Park Zoo," a Phillips Park Zoo official said, per a city news release. "While we will miss them as part of our zoo family, we are glad they will be able to room freely in a spacious outdoor sanctuary for the next few decades or longer. We may even drive out to see them from time to time."