Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, a popular nature TV show for more than 50 years, visited Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL) Turkey Point Clean Energy Center to film an episode about its successful American crocodile monitoring program.
Wild Kingdom’s show host Peter Gros joined FPL’s Vice President of Environmental Services Kate MacGregor and FPL’s Wildlife Biologist and Crocodile Specialist Michael Lloret to look for crocodile hatchlings at known nesting sites. Kate and Michael also discussed the future of these crocodiles and what makes Turkey Point’s canals the ideal habitat for them.
But this wasn’t the first time the TV show visited Turkey Point. In 1992, Wild Kingdom produced a special on the crocodile program at Turkey Point, just a week before Hurricane Andrew impacted the area.
“One thing that amazed me was that at the time of the show’s visit in 1992, they were proud to announce we had a record season of 107 hatchlings,” Kate said. “Today, our record number of hatchlings is 565 – a true testament of our decades of effort helping support this species.”
“The show focuses on the protection of animals and it’s terrific that they are shining a spotlight on the American crocodile,” Michael said. “The American crocodile was downlisted from endangered to threatened in 2007 thanks largely in part to Florida Power and Light’s commitment to the species.”
Turkey Point’s Clean Energy Center provides 1,600 megawatts of electricity to millions of Florida residents. The location of the plant is comprised of 11,000 acres that include the cooling canal system and the surrounding property. The location also provides an ideal nesting habitat for crocodiles.
