Lightning strike rattles alligator farm in Florida. The gators weren’t fazed

Of all places, lightning dared to strike a lagoon full of large alligators in Florida, officials say.

It happened Aug. 6 at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine after the park was closed for the day, and the lack of witnesses means no one knows for sure if the alligators threw a fit.

But more importantly, all the fences held, the park reports.

“News Alert. Alligators are contained,” the farm wrote in an Aug. 7 Facebook post.

“Our largest oak tree in the center lagoon ... appears to have fallen from lightning damage, and it’s a miracle no alligators were hurt.”

Lightning can reach 50,000 degrees, which some Floridians swear is the average temperature there during the summer.

Photos of the aftermath show the lagoon’s 27 adult alligators were found lounging around the debris as if nothing happened. The largest of them is about 13.5 feet, the park says.

News of the lightning strike generated more than 1,600 reactions and comments on Facebook within 24 hours, some noting it’s no accident that alligators “survived for so many centuries.”

“Getting in there with a chainsaw for cleanup should be ... interesting, haha. Good luck,” Jake Harper wrote on the park’s Facebook page.

Some of the park’s shows, such as the gator feeding, were moved until the damage could be assessed and cleared, officials said.

“The alligators were not bothered by all of our activity and quickly got out of the way as we started cleaning up,” the park told McClatchy News in an email.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is considered “a quintessential Florida attraction” and is an accredited zoo. There are around 800 alligators at the farm and 24 species of crocodilians overall in the park.

Among the attractions are zip-line rides “across the Alligator Lagoon on Crocodile Crossing,” the park says.

The farm is about a 40-mile drive south from Jacksonville.

This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 8:54 AM with the headline "Lightning strike rattles alligator farm in Florida. The gators weren’t fazed."