Albino alligators make snappy, happy home in Paris

PARIS (AP) — Two incredibly rare albino alligators have arrived at their new French home — a Paris aquarium — after being bought from a reptile collector in Florida.

An 18-month old albino alligator is presented at the Tropical aquarium in Paris, Thursday Feb. 13. 2014. Two albino alligators arrived in their new home in Paris on Wednesday Feb. 12, after travelling thousands of miles from a fish farm in Florida. The aquarium's new lodgers are two of only twenty to thirty in the world, according to the director of the tropical aquarium Michel Hignette. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

Thursday's snappy new reptiles, who are just over one year old, are part of an elite group of no more than 30 such alligators in the world.
Michel Hignette, head of the Porte Doree aquarium, says aquariums save the lives of these reptiles since they cannot survive in the wild.
Their recessive gene causes bright, white skin that burns in the sun and quickly attracts hungry predators.
It's not clear yet how the two will hit it off as they grow up — as it's still too early to tell if they are male or female.