Someone recently spotted a crocodile on a Long Island walking trail at the Holtsville Wildlife & Ecology Center in New York, the New York Post reported.
According to Frank Floridia, president of Strong Island Animal Rescue League, the reptile was about two feet long and appears to have been abandoned at the center. Crocodiles are illegal in New York.
Here's what to know
After Strong Island Animal Rescue League got the call, Floridia said he was able to remove the reptile without being bitten. According to the New York Post, employees who were still at the property had already lured it into a box.
Floridia said the discovery was "very concerning."
"Let me tell you, if he bit somebody, you're gonna feel it. It can tear your ligaments. It can seriously hurt somebody," he explained to the New York Post. "And it's concerning for the animal because it doesn't have the proper habitat, the proper environment to live."
Floridia told the Post that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation now has the crocodile and that it cannot remain in New York. Strong Island Animal Rescue League is also offering $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and capture of whoever left it there.
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According to Patch, the Suffolk County Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is investigating both where the reptile came from and who abandoned it there.
"Obviously, it's not indigenous to these waters here," Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross told Patch. "So, we're looking at it as abandonment, and we are investigating it."
Previous calls to Floridia have included a four-foot ball python in Farmingdale and a tarantula left in an apartment in Port Jefferson Station.
"I've been getting calls about animals being dumped all over the island," he said.
Where can I learn more?
Crocodile encounters continue to happen around the world, and research is also helping people understand their behavior.
• In Mumbai, India, officials took action after a crocodile was found near an urban pond and marsh.
• Scientists in Florida found surprising patterns in urban crocodiles as neighborhoods face growing safety concerns.
• Florida officers intervened after a giant crocodile spotted swimming off with a dog.
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