Animal Collection
In addition to exhibiting all twenty three known crocodilian species, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park boasts of some of the largest crocs in captivity.
Gomek was one of the largest crocodiles ever to be displayed at a zoo. At a 17 ft 9 in and 2,000 lbs, Gomek was born in Papua New Guinea and captured in the wild by George Craig in the late 1960s. In 1985, he sold Gomek to Terri and Arthur Jones who housed him for three years in Ocala, Florida before Drysdale purchased him for St. Augustine.
Keepers gave entralled visitors a sense of his size, movement, and jaw strength in public feeds of chickens and possums. Gomek lived in his own exhibit and is now memorialized in museum form. After he passed away on March 6, 1997, he was stuffed and mounted and placed on display at the zoo.
Today Gomek’s former enclosure is now home to another large crocodile--Maximo. Hatched in Australia's Cairn Crocodile Farm in 1971, Maximo grew to 15 ft 3 in and is said to weigh abot 1,250 lbs. In 2003, the Alligator Farm purchased both Maximo and his mate Sydney who have hatched many eggs in their time at this zoo.
Beyond size, the zoo exhibits other unusual specimens. Some of the first creatures visitors encounter past the entrance are albino alligators from the Louisiana bayou. Other key creatures include a native bird rookery, Floridian reptiles and amphibians, Australian Komodo dragons, two endangered monkey species, and red-ruffed lemurs from Madagascar.