NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A large alligator was euthanized after being spotted in a New Orleans residential area.
News outlets reported that area residents noticed the ’gator - roughly 11 feet (3.35 meters) long and weighing about 300 pounds (136.08 kilograms) - near New Orleans City Park on Friday morning.
They called police, and a licensed nuisance alligator hunter was summoned.
Louisiana wildlife officials said the animal was euthanized because it was too large to transport. One official told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that the state wildlife agency “does not condone” relocating such a large alligator, especially if it’s found in an urban area and might have become habituated to humans.
“We will not allow nuisance hunters to relocate a 10-footer because you’re really just relocating a threat and a danger from one area to another area,” Jeb Linscombe, the alligator program manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told the newspaper.
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