Alligator Carcass Found Along River

Walking along a riverbank in Kansas, you don’t expect to come across an alligator.

That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, though.

The carcass of an American Alligator was discovered in the Ninnescah River by a Kansas Department of Transportation worker working on the riverbank in Sumner County.

A local herpetologist identified the alligator carcass as approximately three years old.

It was obviously someone’s pet, since alligators are not native to Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism wants to remind the public that even though they might be cute babies, alligators will grow up to be a dangerous predator.

They grow a foot per year for their first ten years of life, after which the rate of growth slows.

A captive raised alligator, even if it’s for only a year or so, can never be released into the wild.