California Academy of Sciences:

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Claude, our beloved albino alligator, has passed away at the age of 30. Claude was an iconic California Academy of Sciences resident who many visitors formed deep connections with during his 17 year tenure. He brought joy to millions of people at the museum and across the world, his quiet charisma captivating the hearts of fans of all ages. Claude showed us the power of ambassador animals to connect people to nature and stoke curiosity to learn more about the world around us.

The team later determined that Claude had “extensive liver cancer with evidence of liver failure” and that “[t]reatment options were limited and likely would have had minimal success.”

“Fuck cancer” is always the appropriate response—human or reptile.

Also: George Kelly’s obituary in The San Francisco Standard.

I visited Claude several times after he moved in. Here he is in August 2014, a month before his 19th hatchday:

I’ll admit I always harbored an irrational fear of Claude whenever I visited, worried he’d pick that day to finally scale the rocky walls of his swamp seeking food fresher than frozen fish.

Fortunately, Claude was always too chill to chase.

Later, gator.