An 8-foot-long ghost alligator is haunting the Milwaukee County Zoo this summer.


Although the pale reptile with the white, leathery skin avoids the sun, preys at night and comes from the mysterious bayou country outside New Orleans, zoo officials say there is nothing supernatural about him.


Archbishop Antoine Blanc - even reptiles get funny names in N'awlins - isn't even an albino. He's something rarer: a leucistic. Instead of lacking the dark pigment of melanin like albinos, this alligator has two recessive genes that produce their white color, according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal.


The archbishop has 13 surviving siblings, all of which suffer from the same problem. They are the only known alligators of their kind, and  live together at an alligator farm in Golden Meadow, La., that's owned by an oil and gas company.


The ghost gator arrived in Milwaukee several weeks ago. He will be on display through Sept. 3.

i think steve"crocodile man"irwin has one at his zoo in australia.
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What is the difference between an albino alligator and a leucistic one?

Good question.

Though both are white, albinos lack pigment and therefore have pink eyes. Leucistic alligators actually have all white pigment and blue eyes. Albino creatures are typically weaker than regularly pigmented members of their species. Leucistic creatures, however, are just as strong. With one exception. They are susceptible to sunburn.

To view regular alligators you can head to the bayous or Audubon's Swamp Exhibit. Looking for a white gator in the wild might take a while. Albinos are rare and only 65-70 are known to exist. There have been only two known discoveries of leucistic alligators. In 1987, a clutch, or litter, of 17 leucistic males was discovered in Louisiana. And in 1994, a lone female was discovered. She now resides at the zoo. To see her go to the Reptile Encounter exhibit, where she lives in the shade.