San Francisco loves its wild inhabitants.
Coyotes climb our hills, cherry-headed conures lace our skies and sea lions moss our docks. Named after the patron saint of animals, the city opens its golden gate for the flocks.
That’s why the sudden death of Claude — the 30-year-old albino alligator who called the California Academy of Sciences home for the past 17 years — has left so many city dwellers in a state of mourning.
On social media, grieving fans posted Claude-inspired creations — everything from watercolors to mooncakes. In a public statement, the California Academy mourned Claude’s “quiet charisma” that “brought joy to millions of people at the museum and across the world.”
The museum’s memorial post for Claude on Instagram surpassed 100,000 likes within a day. Commenters described Claude as an “icon” and a “legend” and demanded that a statue be erected in his honor.
A reptile with star quality
“I was really struck by the number of people who felt this personal connection with him,” said Emma Bland Smith, author of the 2020 children’s book, “Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator.”
“It has all the makings of a gripping, amazing Hollywood story,” Smith said, of Claude’s journey as a hatchling in a Louisiana swamp to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida to a life of comparative luxury in a swamp exhibit in the heart of San Francisco. “From rags to riches, he’s been through so much.”
A local librarian, Smith became enthralled with Claude while accompanying her children on a field trip to the museum. So enthralled, in fact, that she wrote a book about Claude and his travails.
While she has written other children’s picture books, like her recent “The Gardener of Alcatraz,” the one about Claude holds a special place in her heart, and has won multiple readers’ choice awards.
“He just had tension and drama in spades,” Smith said, referring to an incident in which Bonnie, another alligator who once shared a tank with Claude, bit his toe. This plot development, Smith said, always gets a big reaction during her readings.
“One reason people connect to his story is that he’s this underdog, this sweet, goofy, oddball character,” she said. “He was bullied and he felt alone, but he pushed on through.”
A city of misfits
Claude’s eccentricity made him an apt mascot for San Francisco, a city where misfits and iconoclasts have a history of being welcomed. His albinism made him highly visible, and his home celebrated that difference.
His 30th birthday (or “hatchday,” as the museum calls it) in September was a month-long celebration capped by a birthday cake made of fish and ice.
More recently, the waning of Claude’s appetite led his care team to move him out of his swamp for behind-the-scenes care. A necropsy conducted by the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine found a massive tumor in his liver.
“I was really shocked and surprised because, according to what I had understood, he was going to be here for a few more decades,” Smith said. “Alligators in human care can live up to 70 or 80 years.”
“There’s going to be this big hole in our hearts,” Smith said. “It’s going to be really sad next time we go to the Academy and he’s not there.”
The museum plans to hold a public memorial in honor of Claude in the near future. In the meantime, fans of the albino alligator are encouraged to share their memories and messages for his caretakers with claude@calacademy.org, or by post to California Academy of Sciences, Attn: Digital Engagement, 55 Music Concourse Dr., San Francisco, California, 94118.