Accidental alligator made VB pond home

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Wednesday night, a team of marine experts and animal control officers pulled an exotic alligator from a small pond on Progress Lane in the London Bridge area.

The gator was found in a retention pond in an industrial part of Virginia Beach. The Spectacled Cayman Alligator is just a little guy at three feet long and was found in bad condition. Left alone for much longer, experts say the gator wouldn't have survived.

"This alligator is rather thin right now, so we're gonna try and find something it likes to eat to get it back in good shape," said Crystal Matthews, a curator at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.

Melvin Tanks, works nearby and at first didn't believe his eyes.

"Must've been Monday or Tuesday, I saw the alligator floating in the water by the bank. I didn't know what it was at first," said Tanks.

As word spread that there was a strange creature in the pond, the accidental alligator, began to draw a crowd.

"People would bring their children up here, during the day at lunch. Gather around the pond and look for him," added Chris Dowing.

"Well, there was the excitement of having an alligator at your job," said "I called it AJ, like the restaurant," Dowing continued.

Cayman Alligators are not native to Virginia they're actually from South America. Fully grown they can be between six and eight feet long.

Officials, say it's likely his owner dumped him off in the pond when he got too big.

"It is unfortunately common, these are illegal in the state of Virginia to have as pets," added Matthews.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries considers exotic animals like Cayman Alligators "undesirable and unwanted" in the state. Typically, only aquariums and zoos have the necessary permits to house these animals.

But thanks to the efforts of animal control officers, along with experts from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center , AJ the Gator's is now safe.

But the friends he left behind say they'll miss him.

Police say, not only is it illegal to abandon your pets, but it creates a danger for the animal and anyone who may come across it. Authorities say that if you have information about who released the alligator please contact them.