A woman in Florida is fighting to keep her pet alligator Rambo who wears clothes and rides on her motorbike

MEET Rambo, the pet alligator who wears clothes, rides motorbikes and has a bedroom in Mary Thorn’s Florida home.

Ms Thorn has had a licence for Rambo for 11 years, but wildlife officials say she might have to give him up.

The 56.7kg reptile recently grew to two metres and, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife, must have 2.5 acres of open space.

But Ms Thorn said that, even if she had the land, Rambo can’t be left outdoors. Before she began caring for him, he lived in a dark tank with other gators which made him sensitive to sunlight.

“Without him, I don’t feel like even wanting to go on,” she told Orlando Sentinel. “Everybody is taking it pretty hard because they know how much I love the gator.”

Ms Thorn has raised Rambo like he is her own son. She’s taught him not to bite or swat his tail, and has even toilet trained him (he wiggles when he needs to go outside).

When the 15-year-old gator is not hanging out with Ms Thorn’s dogs or watching TV, his owner takes him to schools and charity events to teach people about reptiles.

“He loves kids and when kids come around he shuts his mouth really tight so fingers can’t go in his mouth,” Ms Thorn said, adding she has permission to take him out in public without taping his snout shut.

If the gator has to go, Ms Thorn said she will send him to Croc Encounters, a wildlife sanctuary in Tampa.

“He’s like my son. He’s my family,” Ms Thorn told New York Daily News. “He’s not a normal gator. He has never been a normal gator.”

Florida wildlife commission spokesman Gary Morse said Ms Thorn’s case is under investigation.

 

Source: http://www.news.com.au