CNN
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A virtually 8-foot alligator that allegedly was taken from a Texas zoo practically 20 years in the past as an egg or a hatchling has been returned to the power after it was noticed residing illegally within the yard of a house close to Austin, officers say.
Investigators had been at a property in rural Caldwell County for a separate incident once they noticed the alligator in a pen, Texas Recreation Wardens spokesperson Jen Shugert mentioned Monday.
A girl on the property informed investigators she had taken an alligator egg practically 20 years in the past when she was volunteering with a zoo, in response to Shugert.
“Though there was a habitat within the yard for the alligator, it had outgrown its pen as a result of it was practically 8 toes lengthy,” Shugert mentioned.
As soon as wildlife officers found the lady couldn’t meet the necessities for correct permits to maintain the alligator, a crew went to the property, captured the gator and introduced it to Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo, her authentic dwelling, in response to the zoo.
The zoo – positioned in New Braunfels, lower than 30 miles northeast of San Antonio – posted a video Friday of the large reptile being carried from a truck, via the power and into an enclosure with different gators.
“We obtained a name from Texas Parks and Wildlife Division about an alligator that somebody apparently has had of their possession for over 20 years now,” a zoo worker says within the video.
“Evidently, they had been volunteering right here truly, at Animal World & Snake Farm, method again then,” and apparently took the alligator, both as an egg or a hatchling, “and really saved this factor as a pet for at the least 20 years now,” he provides.
The alligator will now stay out the remainder of her life on the zoo, the worker says within the video.
The lady was cited with two misdemeanors: unlawful possession of an alligator egg and possession of an alligator with out the correct permits, Shugert mentioned. Every carries as much as $500 in fines.
“Alligators don’t make good pets, y’all,” the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division mentioned in an Instagram put up Friday in regards to the reptile’s relocation to the zoo.