A 4ft-long alligator has been captured and nicknamed Godzilla after being spotted lurking in a lake in New York City.
The US Department of Parks and Recreation said that after being hauled out of the water yesterday at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Godzilla was “very lethargic and possibly cold-shocked since it is native to warm, tropical climates”.
The alligator “wasn’t moving really at all”, Joseph Puleo, the vice president of District Council 27, told the New York Post. Godzilla was captured by park workers represented by the council and taken to Bronx Zoo for evaluation after the “totally unexpected” visitor was reported “by someone who saw it”, added Puleo.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A Brooklyn man named only as Moses told the paper that “if I saw that gator, I would have kicked it back in the water”.
“But man, I feel bad for it,” he added. “It shouldn’t be in a lake. Animals are like people, you know?”
Park workers “were shocked and, like witnesses to the scene, are wondering how the reptile – nicknamed Godzilla by New York City Animal Care Center – got into the lake”, said the Daily Mail.
Officials said the alligator was probably an abandoned pet. The “release of animals into New York parks is illegal”, said Sky News, and “can introduce a serious threat” to both humans and other animals.
A parks department spokesperson said: “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.”
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advicethe explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
