Canberra's National Zoo launches their latest alligator enclosure as early Christmas present

Al, Theo and Hurley are three female alligators that originally arrived about 10 years ago and spent their youth in the aquarium.

Later, the trio were transferred to a temporary enclosure spending time outside, growing.

Carnivore keeper Paul Whitehorn, said the trio were well-deserving of the new enclosure after their many years at the zoo.

"These alligators have been part of the family for quite a long time, around 10 years. They came to us when they were really quite small and they were a part of our education program," he said.

"They've just slowly grown over time to the point now where we've felt that they've done wonderful work for us and they deserve to have a resort style home to move into."

The zoo officially opened the enclosure on Tuesday and visitors are encouraged to come and see the new pool but also sun lounging spots on the grassy banks, and heat slabs during the winter.

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"It's just a perfectly designed enclosure for them, obviously they do spend a lot of their time in the water but they do love the feeling of the grass on their bellies," Mr Whitehorn said.

"They've got plenty of options, lots of shade, lots of sunshine so everything that a gator could possibly want."

Slightly different from the more familiar, native croc, alligators have a U-shaped head while crocodiles have longer, pointier V-shaped heads.

While alligators can consume almost a quarter of their body weight in just one meal and are notorious for being excellent hunters, they are considered less aggressive than crocodiles.

"These guys can grow up to about 3.6 metres long and the big male can weigh up to 450 kilos," Mr Whitehorn said.

"These guys obviously still have a way to go and will actually grow slower in Canberra than they would in the wild just because Canberra does have that cold winter."

Visitors are encouraged to come past this enclosure over the summer period and beyond to learn more about these 80 million-year-old animals closely related to dinosaurs.

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