INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A rare alligator gar that measured more than 5 feet long when it was caught in southwestern Indiana likely originated outside the state.
Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist Stephanie Brandt says in a release Friday that the gar may have been stocked from a restoration program Kentucky started eight years ago.
A microwire tag was imbedded in the fish. Brandt says the gar likely was 10 years old and released in 2009 or 2010.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says a bow fisherman caught it legally in the White River on June 1. The fish measured 63 inches and 55 pounds.
It was the first alligator gar verified by Indiana state biologists in recent history. Indiana is at the northern edge of the alligator gar’s historic range.
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