Alligator weighing about 750 pounds removed from Florida parking lot

JUPITER, Fla. (UPI) — An alligator weighing around 750 pounds was removed from a business park’s parking lot in South Florida last week.

The 12-foot reptile, estimated to be at least 60 years old, was spotted Thursday in the Jupiter Commerce Park, officials said in a Facebook post.

“He was carefully removed without harm from the area and relocated to a safe place,” police reported on Facebook.

The post drew several hundred responses.

“He has been around for a long time. I guess he was just catching some Florida rays!” Susan Viel Zorn posted.’

ABM Facility Services called the police about a “very large” alligator in its parking lot.

“Wow! That’s a dinosaur … That is one big gator!” Sgt. Eric Frank told WPBF-TV said when he saw the reptile with three other officers.

Troy Nelson, a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper, was summoned to retrieve the gator. The officers helped him remove the reptile.

The gator had minor injuries to its tail and was missing a leg, Frank said.

“That alligator had absolutely no problem moving around,” Frank said. “Once the trapper was able to put the trap line around the neck, that gator was rolling, growling and thumping all over the place. He was not very happy to be encountered with us.”

Police said the gator be “rehomed” to a breeding program farm in central Florida.

The average size for a male alligator, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, is about 11 feet and they can reach 1,000 pounds.

The gator’s sex wasn’t revealed.

Reporting by Allen Cone