- Authorities appeared to suggest that the alligator could possibly have been someone’s pet — and that the person had attempted to release it into the wild — and they warned against others who might be tempted to take similar actions.
- “Parks are not suitable homes for animals not indigenous to those parks-domesticated or otherwise. In addition to the potential danger to park goers this could have caused, releasing non-indigenous animals or unwanted pets can lead to the elimination of native species and unhealthy water quality,” a spokesperson for the department said in a statement, adding that such actions could prove dangerous for the animals as well.
- The alligator, at the time it was retrieved from the lake, was “very lethargic and possibly cold shocked since it is native to warm, tropical climates.”
