Alligator on loose in city was just a soft toy

When an alligator was reported loose on the streets of Bristol, police and the RSPCA snapped into action.

Roads were sealed off as they staked out the creature, which appeared to be lying in garden bushes with the remains of a bird in its jaws.

After a tense 30-minute stand-off, emergency workers used a camera to zoom in on the reptile – and discovered that it was a stuffed toy.



Richard Masling, an RSPCA inspector, said after Friday’s incident: “As animal rescues go, this one was child’s play.”

Mr Masling said: "We thought it would be a captive caiman which had escaped or been abandoned, then killed and eaten a wild bird and was laying on the grass digesting it."

It is unclear if the emergency was a prank but the toy had fluff in its mouth to appear like feathers and an elastic band made to look like a muzzle was wrapped around its jaws.