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UPDATE: Bronx Zoo Zoologist And Her Alligator <em>Aren't</em> Seeking Roommate
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 16, 2011
Modified Aug 16, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 16, 2011
Modified Aug 16, 2011
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[UPDATE BELOW—turns out, it's not real]: A Bronx Zoo zoologist posted a Craiglist ad this morning, and it turns out you must love alligators if you want to move in to her Hoboken pad. While you'd only be sharing the apartment with one human, there is another roommate: A gator. A cayman from Zimbabwe named Keomba, who lives in a tank with about 24 inches of water.
She writes, "Keomba is 48 years old in adult years. She is here for a rehabilitation, she was attacked by younger crocs at the zoo in the early summer. Have no fear, Keomba is a gentle giant that is in all actuality very calm. I have all the required permits from the state to have her here. You would be asked for 30 minutes a day to feed her and check on her bandages while I am at work." Checking on an alligator's bandages sounds a little risky, but Keomba's teeth have been removed, so presumably the most she could do is gnaw on you a little. Keomba's teeth will eventually be reinserted next year when she returns to the zoo.
Interested parties should be non-smokers, and not into illicit drugs... after all, you don't want to get too high and mistake Keomba for your spirit animal, and wander off on a vision quest to the Paramus Park Mall. [via NJ.com]
Update: The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo (along with the city's other zoos in Queens, Prospect Park and Central Park) tells us, in the tradition of too-good-to-be-true Craigslist postings, this is a hoax. We've tried to reach out to the Craiglist poster, but in the meantime, we'll just have to imagine that it's an ode to Antoine Yates.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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