Extraordinarily rare white leucistic gator with twinkling blue eyes born in Florida

In what feels like a holiday miracle, an extremely rare white leucistic alligator, with twinkling blue eyes, was born Thursday in Orlando, Florida.

Gatorland, the alligator park where the reptile was born, said in a press release that the baby gator is one of just eight known leucistic alligators in the world. It is also the first white leucistic alligator ever born in human care, according to the park.

"Oh boy, we have some exciting news here at Gatorland," said Mark McHugh, the president and CEO of Gatorland. "For the first time since a nest of leucistic alligators was discovered in the swamps of Louisiana 36 years ago, we have the first birth of a solid white alligator ever recorded from those original alligators."