Two of the handmade signs that bobbed above the crowd outside the California Academy of Sciences on a Sunday morning read: “Claude the Great” and “SF loves you, Claude.”
This was not a somber goodbye to a beloved Bay Area fixture. It was a celebration of his life and legacy.
On Jan. 18, about 2,000 people gathered in the Music Concourse of Golden Gate Park for the public funeral of Claude, the Academy’s beloved albino alligator, an event that blended music, art, science and communal memory into something closer to a celebration of life than a farewell.
Claude, the albino alligator who lived at the Academy for decades, was seen by more than 22 million visitors during his time there, becoming one of the institution’s most recognizable figures. He even had his very own “Claude cam” for viewers to tune into. For many, he was a first encounter with wildlife; for others, a familiar presence revisited across childhoods, school trips and family outings. In a concrete jungle, Claude and the Academy as a whole brought people closer to the natural world. Over time, Claude turned from simply a unique exhibit that attracted visitors into a Bay Area legend that transcended the walls of the Academy itself…