This American alligator named Casper is so tame humans can get in the water with him without fear of being attacked and he even responds to his name.

Cameraman and naturalist Ewan Wilson had the chance to enter Casper's pool at the Everglades Outpost in South Florida on Saturday and witness first-hand this reptile's extraordinarily docile behaviour.

In the footage Wilson filmed, Casper's trainer Chris Gillette calls him by name from the other side of the pool.

Wilson's hands tremble on the camera as the potentially deadly reptile starts to swim over to the pair.

Then, incredibly, Casper stops inches from Gillette and Wilson, showing no signs of aggression.

"That's incredible," says Wilson.

According to Wilson, Gillette has been working with Casper for twelve years and has been able to teach him to respond to his name in return for food.

Along with the other reptilian residents of the Everglades Outpost, Casper helps to educate the people of Florida about how to co-exist with their wild neighbours.

One of the key lessons is to never feed wild alligators which can turn them into "problem animals" as they lose their natural fear of humans.

Cameraman and naturalist Ewan Wilson (age 23) had come across an interesting situation. A captive American Alligator named Casper has been trained to be comfortablthee with humans. Casper's handler Chris Gillette has been working with Casper for around 12 years and has been able to teach his reptilian co-worker to respond to his name, in return Casper gets a food reward. Casper is held in the Everglades Outpost which is an educational facility to help the people of Florida co-exists with there reptilian neighbours.
PLEASE NOTE, wild alligators must never be fed in any situation. Wild alligators are normally afraid of humans but once fed they loose there Natural fear of people, with a loss of natural fear comes new found confidence and this is where mistakes are made. If people do not feed them, then humans and alligators can live safely side by side.

Video was shot in the Everglades Outpost located in South Florida, USA.