Alligator needs procedure after swallowing 70 coins at Nebraska zoo, officials say

A Nebraska zoo has issued a warning after veterinarians found dozens of “foreign metal objects” in the stomach of a 36-year-old alligator.

Those metal objects, the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium said, were 70 American coins the alligator named Thibodaux had swallowed, according to a Feb. 16 Facebook post.

Veterinarians discovered the coins during a routine procedure involving blood collection and radiographs, the Omaha zoo said. Thibodaux needed to be anesthetized and intubated to allow veterinarians to safely remove the loose change.

“A plastic pipe was placed to protect his mouth and safely pass the tools used to access the coins, such as a camera that helped us guide the retrieval of these objects,” according to the zoo.

When the procedure was done, crews had removed $7 worth of coins from the gator’s belly, KETV reported.

Veterinarian Christina Ploog told KETV that alligator likely swallowed the coins when guests tossed them into his mouth.

“Guests should not throw coins into any bodies of water at the zoo,” officials said. “Any loose change can instead be turned in for a souvenir coin in one of the several machines around the Zoo or in our coin wishing well.”

Thibodaux is an American alligator with leucism, a “rare condition” the Audubon Nature Institute said “results in pink eyes and no pigmentation at all.”

“They’ve been described as ethereal, ghostly and, most frequently, beautiful,” the Audubon Nature Institute said. “They have translucent white skin and deep blue eyes with a hint of pigmentation splashed here and there.”

Thibodaux has recovered from his procedure and is back in his habitat, the zoo said.

This story was originally published February 19, 2024 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Alligator needs procedure after swallowing 70 coins at Nebraska zoo, officials say."