A growling and hissing alligator was caught roaming the streets of Tampa, Fla., early Wednesday, and was wrangled by police and wildlife officials.
A video shared by the Tampa Police Department shows the gator surrounded by officers near West Kathleen Street and North Howard Avenue early Wednesday. After circling and backdashing for a couple of minutes, an officer manages to get a rope around the unhappy reptile.
Once the rope is secure, an officer pounces on the alligator from behind, holding its powerful jaws shut. The officer covers the alligators eyes to calm it down while its snout is taped shut. The alligator was then transported by a trapper contracted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
While injury or death caused by alligators is rare in Florida, there is significant human-alligator conflict. Nuisance alligators are defined as being over 4 feet long and considered a threat to people, pets or property.
According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report on the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, or SNAP, issued on Feb. 21, the state has 113 contracted nuisance alligator trappers that respond to 10,000 calls for service annually.
At that time, contracted trappers received a $30 stipend per alligator from the FWC, a figure subsequently raised for the first time in nearly 20 years to $50. The nuisance alligator becomes the trappers property to sell for hide or meat, or to sell live to a zoo or farm.
