Alligator found in Brooklyn lake with bath stopper stuck inside it dies after medical treatment at Bronx Zoo: Officials call death of suspected pet a ‘tragic case of animal abuse’
- Alligator found in the frigid waters of Prospect Park Lake in February has died despite undergoing extensive medical treatment
- As part of a post-mortem, the zoo revealed that the alligator, a female, had a chronic ulcer in its stomach that was caused after ingesting a bathtub stopper
- Zoo officials blamed alligator’s previous owner for dumping her in a cold lake in ‘an extremely debilitated state’ cautioning against keeping wild animals as pets
An abandoned and emaciated alligator that was found in a New York City lake and sent to the Bronx Zoo for recovery has died in a ‘tragic case of animal abuse,’ zoo officials said.
The zoo provided extensive medical treatment and nutritional support for the debilitated gator, but she succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, the zoo said in a statement.
‘This alligator suffered and died because its owner decided to dump her in a frigid lake, in an extremely debilitated state rather than provide her with the veterinary care that could have saved her,’ Bronx Zoo officials said. ‘Wild animals are not pets.’
An autopsy showed chronic and severe weight loss, extreme anemia and infections in the gator’s intestine and skin, the statement said.
An alligator rescued from a lake in Prospect Park in Brooklyn under care at the Bronx Zoo has died in a ‘tragic case of animal abuse,’ zoo officials said
Zoo officials blamed the reptile’s death on the alligator’s previous owner who dumped her in a cold lake in ‘an extremely debilitated state’ and cautioned against keeping wild animals as pets
An X-ray shows a bathtub stopper in the stomach of an American alligator, rescued from a lake in Prospect Park, Brooklyn earlier this year
The gator, nicknamed Godzilla, was estimated to be 5 to 6 years old. She also had a chronic ulcer in her stomach caused by a rubber bathtub stopper she had ingested while illegally kept as a pet.
That rubber stopper was later successfully removed.
When the gator was rescued from Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn in late February and brought to the Bronx Zoo for recovery, she weighed only 15 pounds.
An alligator of her length should have weighed 30 to 35 pounds, officials said.
The emaciated gator was easily caught at the time due to its weakened state and small stature
The large animal was captured after being spotted in the waters in mid-February
Meghan Lalor, a representative for the Parks Department, said the Prospect Park gator was likely a pet who became unwanted or outgrew its space and was subsequently released into public waters.
Keeping an alligator as a pet in New York City is illegal, as is releasing animals into city parks.
Alligators are obviously not native to the area and experts warn that it is always a bad idea to set non-native animals free into the environment because they can harm other species.
Alligators are native to tropical, warmer climates which is part of the reason this gator was having such a hard time navigating the freezing waters of Brooklyn.
The female gator was sickly and underweight. Although attempts were made to nurse her back to health she did not survive
Godzilla was cared for at the Bronx Zoo, where employees say x-rays revealed she at some point ate a four-inch bathtub stopper