"It was most likely a crocodile that was illegally brought into the country or illegally captured elsewhere in the county," said Sgt. Jason Bosworth, with the Roseville Police Department. California Fish and Wildlife officials said the crocodile is very dangerous. "This one is a really nasty crocodile," said Patrick Foy, a game warden. "It's got a really bad attitude. This animal genuinely is a very dangerous animal.
"Leaving it in a parking lot absolutely (puts) the public at risk, especially kids who might think that they can go and touch (it) - people who just don’t know how dangerous these crocodiles really are." Whoever left the animal also included a note reading "call rescue," and identified the reptile as a Nile crocodile. The reptile store in the area is a safe surrender site for animals whose owners can no longer care for them.
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An animal control officer lassoed the reptile in the parking lot. The crocodile wasn't happy about returning to a cage, police said. The crocodile was then turned over to California State Fish and Wildlife. Foy said the department believes the animal is indeed a rare Nile crocodile. "It can grow to 15-, 16-, 20-foot type range," Foy said. "They can be enormous." Owning a crocodile is illegal. Fish and Wildlife officials said the animal will most likely end up in a zoo.
2 comments:
About 8 years ago, we had our own alligator story here in SoCal. A guy was raising gators and other animals illegally, and when one got too big for his back yard, he put it into a lake as a local park. Reggie the Gator became quite a celebrity, eluding all efforts to capture him. Steve Irwin was going to come, when someone else finally trapped him. He was sent to the LA Zoo, and even managed to escape his cage there at least once.
Heh heh, you can't beat a celebrity alligator! :)
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