A much beloved staple of San Francisco school field trips and tourist outings, Claude the albino alligator, died Tuesday. He was 30.

Claude, a 17-year resident of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, had been moved from his swamp-like enclosure just past the building’s main entrance as his appetite waned in recent weeks.

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Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.