Alligator captured in Brooklyn's Prospect Park Lake

[February 21, 2023]  (Reuters) - New York City park staff stumbled across a sickly alligator in Brooklyn's Prospect Park this weekend, the Parks Department said, and rangers captured the lost reptile and brought it to the Bronx Zoo for care.

Members of the Parks Enforcement Patrol and Urban Park Rangers capture an alligator from a lake in Prospect Park in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., February 19, 2023. Courtesy of NYC Parks/Handout via REUTERS

Park maintenance staff found the alligator in Prospect Park Lake on Sunday morning, in the heart of the concrete jungle, and noted that it appeared lethargic and in a state of cold shock.

Alligators typically live in tropical climates and are native to the southeastern United States. This one was about 4 feet (1.2 meters) long.

"We're grateful to our Parks Enforcement Patrol and Urban Park Rangers who snapped into action to capture and transport the alligator," a spokesperson for NYC Parks said in a statement.

No one was harmed in the process of the animal's capture and transport to the zoo, the department said.

Alligator attacks are extremely rare in the United States, even in the states where they usually reside. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission counted that there were only 442 unprovoked bite incidents in the state from 1948 to 2021.

The New York City Parks department issued a public warning against releasing non-native animals into the city's environment, which is illegal. New York City Urban Park Rangers respond to about 500 calls regarding animals in poor condition each year.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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