California Academy of Sciences bids farewell to Claude

Photo Courtesy California Academy of Sciences Starting his life on September 15, 1995 in a Louisiana swamp, Claude was quickly brought into captivity because the chances of survival as an albino animal is none. After a brief time growing up at St. Augustine Alligator Farm & Zoological Gardens, Claude became a fixture at the California Academy of Sciences building in their swamp. He also in a way became an unofficial and well beloved mascot of the whole City of San Francisco.

“As you can imagine it’s a very sad day over here,” said Jeanette Peach, Cal Academy’s acting communications director, in an email to SFGATE. “At the moment we’re not doing interviews as we don’t have more information to share yet, but once we have the findings of the necropsy and exam that is being performed at UC Davis we will be able to share more.”

Our hearts go out to his care team. To read more and see some videos and photos of Claude, visit SFGate here. We wanted to update this articles with the findings that the necropsy results have returned and show "extensive liver cancer" among other ailments. You can read more here