Gator Found in Nevada Lake

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LAS VEGAS — Animal control officials say a man angling for catfish at a Sunset Park lake instead reeled in a 3 1/2-foot-long alligator.

The healthy juvenile reptile was euthanized, and Clark County Animal Control Supervisor Dave March says it was probably released recently into the man-made lake. March says it couldn’t have gone unnoticed for long.

The fisherman secured the alligator with fishing line until authorities arrived.

Doug Nielsen, a Nevada Wildlife Department spokesman, says the alligator’s appearance at the lake fits a pattern.

Nielsen says people may go on vacation, see a small alligator and bring it back as a pet. But the animal can get big and aggressive – that’s when it ends up in local waters.

Importing and owning alligators is illegal in Nevada.