Photo: Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Sipa USA
Visitors spotted the wild animal peeking its head above the water at the park, located in Chicago’s West Side, on Tuesday and Chicago police say they began investigating unconfirmed reports on social media about the alligator shortly after these initial sightings,according toFox News.
It’s still unclear how the animal found its way into the Chicago lagoon, but, Chicago Animal Care and Control reports, the alligator is not native to the region and was most likely kept as a pet before being released into the water.
“If this is a pet alligator, it was probably kept in an aquarium and released” into the lagoon, Jenny Schlueter, a spokesperson for Chicago Animal Care and Control,toldFOX 32.
It “will probably be scared and try to hide,” she added.
“They could be sitting right here where this little piece of wood is floating and we wouldn’t even know it,” said Chicago Herpetological Society’s ‘Alligator Bob.’ “He could just suddenly sink down and that’s what he’s been doing. He pops up, we see him, and then he sinks down.”
Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Sipa USA
“It’s only been in here a day or two at the most,” ‘Alligator Bob’continued. “After he’s been here a week or so, he’s gonna go exploring all over, looking for a place to bask. He’s gonna be looking for new food. He’s gonna be looking for a better place to sleep.”
As of Wednesday morning, the wild animal was still at large in the park, despite humane bait traps filled with fish and chicken set up throughout the lagoon.
Strangely enough, this isn’t the first alligator to grace Chicago waters. Last year, a 4-foot-long gatorwas removed from Lake Michiganwith its mouth taped shut. And back in 2011, two gators were found swimming in the Chicago River within the same month, with one measuring 3-feet-long and a smaller alligator discovered a few weeks prior, FOX 32reports.
The investigation into the alligator’s whereabouts and who potentially released him into the lagoon are still ongoing, according to authorities.
source: people.com
