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PORTLAND, Ore. — Police in Oregon seized an alligator that had made a home in the Beaver State as a family pet for more than a dozen years.
While that might raise some eyebrows, the bottom line for the Oregon State Police is that alligators are illegal in the state except in rare cases.
According to an Instagram post by state police, the reptile had been a pet for a family in Springfield for 13 years. They are prohibited except by permitted wildlife rehabilitation centers and USDA-licensed educational or research facilities, The Oregonian reported.
Police said it was more of a rescue mission than a seizure.
The alligator was in poor health and was not being kept in adequate conditions, according to the newspaper.
The reptile is one of four that the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife remembers seeing over the past six years, KOIN-TV reported.
“The alligator was transported to a permitted facility by an Oregon Department of Agriculture veterinarian, where it will live out its remaining years,” state police wrote on Instagram.
According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute website, American alligators are typically found in slow-moving rivers, swamps, marshes and lakes in Southern states from North Carolina to the Rio Grande in Texas.
The state police ended the Instagram post on a humorous note, according to The Oregonian.
Police ended the social media post on a lighter note: “Science tip: You can distinguish an alligator from a crocodile by paying attention to whether the animal sees you later or after a while #dadjokes.”
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