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‘It’s Totally Unexpected’: Huge 4ft Alligator Found Swimming in Brooklyn’s Frozen Lake in Prospect Park
- The alligator was pulled from Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn around 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning after a stunned bystander called park workers to the scene.
- The alligator was lethargic and moved slowly due to the frigid temperatures of the lake waters; alligators are native to warm, tropical climates.
- A Parks Department representative said the creature had likely been abandoned by an owner who was dissatisfied with it as a pet.
A cold, slow-moving alligator was pulled from Brooklyn’s Prospect Park lake Sunday morning after a passerby spotted the creature floating in the icy waters.
the new york post office reports The city park workers were shocked and, as witnesses to the scene, wonder how the reptile got into the lake.
“It’s totally unexpected,” said Joseph Puleo, vice president of the 27th District Council, which represents the park workers who ended up pulling the alligator from the depths of the lake and corralling it to safety.
Pule told the outlet that his team was notified of the alligator’s presence this morning “by someone who saw it.”
The call was made around 8:30 a.m. Sunday after the creature from the deep was spotted near Duck Island.
Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, where a 4-foot-long alligator was pulled from the icy waters early Sunday morning
A cormorant roosts near Duck Island on Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, almost exactly where the alligator was found.
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn in Prospect Park
“It wasn’t really moving at all,” he noted.
The 4-foot-long alligator may have been feeling lethargic due to the low lake water temperatures.
Workers removed the not-so-quick tracker and took it to New York City Animal Care Centers.
Meghan Lalor, a representative for the Parks Department, said the Prospect Park alligator was likely a pet that became unwanted or outgrown its space and was subsequently released into public waters.
“Fortunately, no one was injured and the animal is being evaluated,” he said.
“In this case, the animal was found to be very lethargic and possibly cold-shocked, as it is native to warm, tropical climates.”
It is always a dangerous idea to release non-native animals into unfamiliar environments to which they may not be able to acclimate.
The alligator incident comes less than a month after a malnourished non-native pigeon that had been dyed pink was found wandering Madison Square Park in midtown Manhattan.
The Wild Bird Fund ultimately determined that the bird, which was given the name Flamingo, had been deliberately dyed and possibly used as part of a gender reveal, experiment or wedding party, prompting employees to release a statement. :
‘Please never release domestic birds into the wild. Not for weddings, funerals, celebrations, art projects, anything. (We hope they ‘don’t get dyed’ needless to say, but…) They will starve or be preyed on,’ they wrote.
The Wild Bird Fund added that the bird appeared to have never flown before and was likely purchased from a poultry market. The bird also showed signs of long-term malnutrition.
Flamingo, the group said, could not survive in the wild because it cannot find food, fly well or escape predators.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a pink pigeon at the clinic, so we were all quite surprised,” said Antonio Sanchez of the Wild Bird Fund. “Honestly, we were disgusted that someone would do this.”
‘If you see a completely white pigeon in the wild, or any domesticated bird that seems lost, it needs your help. Catch the bird and bring it to a pigeon rescue center or animal sanctuary near you,” the group wrote.