WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) - The carcass of an American alligator was recently found in a south-central Kansas river, and wildlife officials speculate the animal was likely being kept as a pet before being released into the wild when it got too big to keep.
A Kansas Department of Transportation worker recently discovered the carcass in the Ninnescah River in Sumner County as he worked along the river bank, Kansas City television station WDAF reported.
A zoologist determined the reptile, which is native to the southeastern U.S., was about 3 years old.
Alligators are cold-blooded animals that can’t survive the harsh winters of the Midwest and Plains states out in the wild.
“This is a reminder that even though they might be cute babies, they will grow up to be a dangerous predator,” the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism said in a statement. “They grow a foot per year for the first 10 years of life, after which the rate of growth slows.”
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