At this Central Florida tourist attraction, there are hundreds of alligators — to be seen, fed, and in some cases, touched.
GatorWorld Parks of Florida opened its gates to visitors of all ages last fall, in Wildwood, on State Route 44 in Sumter County.
The 15-acre park, off Interstate 75, is a family friendly attraction.
Visitors can drive through the park and have prime viewing of more than 400 alligators in their natural Florida habitat.
When they enter the park through the main gateway on Highway 44, visitors drive onto a gravel roadway that snakes through the front end of the park. As they drive along, visitors get close-up views of full-grown gators lounging in roadside pools — behind protective fencing, of course.
Specially constructed pools surround the enclosed common areas for gators to wander, simulating their natural habitat.
It another section of the park, visitors can feed smaller gators from a raised platform by dangling poles — specifically built for that purpose — which often have a morsel of turkey sausage for the gators.
For those who want a bit more adventure, it’s even possible to hold and pet some of the baby gators. These gators, which are about a year old, have their snouts taped shut, to allow them to be safely caressed.
Just a handful of the park’s gators can be touched, since they’ve become socialized over time, said Gavin Courterier, a 17-year-old guide and alligator handler at GatorWorld.
“At first they were trying to not be held at all, but they get used to it. They stay pretty calm,” Courterier said, as he gently held a baby gator for guests to pet.
He noted, these young creatures grow about 2 inches to 3 inches a year, in their their new, stable habitat. “They can control their heart rate and metabolism so that they don’t grow too quick,” he said.
Gavin’s father, Casey Courterier, is also an alligator handler at the park.
He became comfortable with the reptilian species after several months of studying their tendencies, watching videos and learning to handle farm-raised gators. The job now comes second nature to him.
“They’re like dogs,” Casey Courterier said, as he used the butt end of a rake to calmly direct a full-grown gator in a pen. “They all have their own personalities. They’ll let you know how close you can get. They talk just like a dog would. They hiss instead of growl. They’ll get angry if I get into my feeding position with my bell and don’t feed them. They’ll make funny noises at you, like, ‘Come on, get with the program.’”
Besides its unique offering to tourists, GatorWorld Park has created a sanctuary for alligators, young and old.
Park officials work with a network of trappers, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, to acquire its gator stock.
The 400-plus gators come from Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, and even South America and northern Mexico.
The largest gator on the property measures almost 13 feet. Countless others measure between 7 feet and 9 feet.
Some are rescued gators. Others are nuisance gators removed — which would have been sold for their hide and meat.
“They get to retire here peacefully, instead of being a nuisance to all of the golfers around the state at night, especially in The Villages,” said Mary Wymer, who handles marketing and communications for GatorWorld.
In the secure environment, where they are fed and cared for, these gators can live up to 80 years, compared to 40 years to 45 years in the wild.
“You can tell by their behavior a farm-raised (gator) versus a nuisance,” Casey Courterier said. “But, it only takes a short amount of time for them to calm down and enjoy the resort habitat they have.”
GatorWorld was founded and developed by Don Buckner, an entrepreneur credited with starting Vac-Tron Equipment. That company, headquartered in Okahumpka, designs and manufactures a brand of portable environmental vacuum clean-up equipment.
Buckner’s idea for “building a business around alligators” has been in the works for years.
Buckner was part of a trade delegation to South America, back in 2000, accompanying Jeb Bush, who was then Florida’s governor.
The Orlando Tourism Commission was on the trip, too, and Buckner took part in discussions about tourist interests in Florida. He soon learned that “seeing an alligator” ranks up there with visiting theme parks and the beach by out-of-state tourists visiting Florida.
Buckner developed the GatorWorld trademark around 2004, then decided to finally make it a reality after investing some capital in recent years.
“There’s 110 million tourists that come to Florida every year,” Buckner said, “so why not capitalize on some of that?”
Thinking outside the box, he conceived of a “drive-through” alligator park, where visitors could get a comprehensive experience in an hour or less.
“The challenges to see an alligator are pretty high,” Bucker explained. “There’s ways to do it, but it’s an all-day affair, it’s expensive, and the location’s not ideal. So those three things we tried to overcome by being in the right location, having the right cost and then not taking all day.”
There’s more than just alligators to see, too.
The park also features a petting zoo with goats, sheep and pigs, chickens, miniature cows, and even a bunny farm.
Adding a petting zoo to the main attraction was a concept that just evolved over time, Buckner said, anticipating young visitors would also enjoy the opportunity to interact with small animals in a friendly setting.
Said Buckner, “I call it a ‘might as well.’ We did the feeding stations, so we might as well have bunnies, might as well have rabbits, might as well have chickens; who knows what the next ‘might as well’ is.”
Park hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the winter. GatorWorld Parks of Florida is closed Sundays.
Entry fee for the drive-through park is $22 per adult, with various discounts for veterans, children and seniors.
For information, visit GatorWorldParks.com.
Published February 7, 2018
