Thousands in San Francisco mourn beloved albino alligator Claude

Claude was not very talkative, rarely moved and never wore costumes to attract an audience — but hundreds of people gathered in San Francisco on Sunday to celebrate the life and legacy of the city’s beloved albino alligator.

With a New Orleans-style brass band, eight-foot-long white sourdough bread in the shape of an alligator, drag queen story times, and even a street officially named in his honor, Alligator-Claude Way, this memorial is one-of-a-kind.

The reptile certainly won the hearts of millions during his lifetime, but he’s also best remembered for stealing from a 12-year-old girl.

The 10-foot, 300-pound white alligator with pink eyes and poor vision once stole and swallowed a girl’s ballet slippers, recalled Bart Shepherd of the California Academy of Sciences.

“Taking a shoe out of an alligator is no small thing,” Shepard told a crowd of Crowder fans in Golden Gate Park.

Shepard said it took a lot of anesthesia, specialized tools and multiple veterinarians and staff to remove the shoe from Claude’s body — a task that was accomplished despite fire alarms blaring throughout the building.

“It’s heartening to see San Francisco come out to celebrate this beloved San Francisco icon,” Jeanette Peach, the college’s director of communications, told the BBC.

Part of the reason people love Crowder so much, Peach said, is that he “embodies what we believe to be the true San Francisco ideal of not only accepting but welcoming people’s differences.”

Peach said Claude’s albinism, which is extremely rare among alligators, provides visibility to people who feel a little excluded.

“It’s a wonderful animal that’s a little bit marginalized compared to other species, but it’s loved and cherished and has value,” she added.

Claude “has delighted and fascinated more than 22 million visitors and shown us the power of animal ambassadors to connect people to nature and science,” the academy wrote on its website.

The reptile died of liver cancer in December at the age of 30. It was hatched at an alligator farm in Louisiana in 1995 and then came to live in the college’s swamp exhibit in 2008.

Since Crowder’s death, the academy has received thousands of letters from Crowder fans expressing how much the Gators meant to them.

“Thank you for inspiring so many young children over the years,” one of Crowder’s visitors wrote in a note to him. “You remind us that our differences make us unique, special and worth celebrating.”

“You will always be in my heart,” another wrote. “I will miss you so much and thank you for being a part of my childhood.”

Lana Krol, the academy’s senior veterinarian, said that of all the crocodiles she has interacted with, Claude “struck me as the most laid-back.”

“I can confidently say that I will never meet an alligator like Claude in my life. I will miss him terribly,” Kroll said.