ORLANDO, Fla. — An alligator found its new home at a Florida reptile park after being found without its nose and upper jaw – and it now has a name!
In a video posted to Facebook, officials with Gatorland Orlando expressed how thankful they were for the amount of names submitted to help with the naming process.
"It was a huge long list of outstanding names and we kind of settled on one," one of the park leaders said.
The little gator was called an "absolute treasure" with the park leaders explaining their love for her. So when choosing a name, they decided to go with inspiration from an American treasure – none other than Dolly Parton.
"We love Dolly so much and one of the names that kind of run really clear with us and grew on us was [a take on] one of Dolly's famous songs," one of the workers explained.
The park decided to name the little gator "Jaw-lene."
As of now, park officials explain they aren't planning on introducing prosthetics to the reptile as a way to not stress her out.
To get the gator to eat, the staff was cutting up small pieces of food which they tossed in the back of its throat. But now, the gator reportedly ate two mice on her own!
The injured gator came from a lake in nearby Sanford, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando.
“She had basically no chance of surviving in the wild with such a severe injury,” the park previously said in a social media post.
After more than a week of being rescued, a veterinarian said he was impressed with the way the gator eats.
Gatorland Orlando is home to thousands of alligators and crocodiles, a breeding marsh, an aviary, a nature walk, a petting zoo and educational wildlife programs. It opened in 1949 and is considered one of the few remaining “Old Florida” tourist attractions in central Florida.