A young alligator found last week in the lake at the Parque de la Paz, in southern San José, was moved to the National Biodiversity Institute (InBio) yesterday, according to Minor González, chief of wildlife at the Central Volcanic Range Conservation Area, part of the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE).
Experts from MINAE captured the gator with ropes and set it aboard a boat borrowed from the Costa Rican Red Cross to get him out of the lake, González said.
Measuring only some 50 centimeters, the animal did not represent a threat to visitors of the urban park. However, if inexperienced people tried to capture it, or if it were left there until it reached adulthood, when it could measure as long as 2.4 meters, it could become dangerous, González explained.
González speculated a possible owner of this gator may have decided he or she did not want it anymore and left it at the lake.
