Alligator dies 2 months after being rescued from Prospect Park lake
NEW YORK -- An alligator that was rescued from a lake in Brooklyn earlier this year has died, the Bronx Zoo said Friday.
The alligator was taken to the zoo for rehabilitation after she was found in Prospect Park in February.
Zoo officials say the alligator had been illegally kept as a pet.
According to zoo officials, a bathtub stopper the alligator had swallowed caused a chronic ulcer. The alligator also suffered from severe weight loss, anemia and infections in her intestine and skin.
- Read more: Alligator rescued from Prospect Park Lake had swallowed a bathtub stopper, Bronx Zoo says
The alligator died Sunday, after nearly two months of intensive care.
In a statement, the zoo said in part, "This was a tragic case of animal abuse. Alligators and other wild animals do not belong in the pet trade or in people's homes. This alligator suffered and died because its owner decided to dump her in a frigid lake, in an extremely debilitated state rather than provide her with the veterinary care that could have saved her. Wild animals are not pets."
