--- title: Alligator Discovered in New York City description: The cops that found it brought it to animal control, leaving the city's rat population with one fewer predator to fear. canonical: https://time.com/3971548/alligator-new-york-city/ author: Eric Dodds article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T18:29:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:18.672Z og:title: Alligator Found Roaming the Streets of New York City og:description: It was taken to animal control following its brief tour og:url: https://time.com/3971548/alligator-new-york-city/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alligator Found Roaming the Streets of New York City twitter:description: It was taken to animal control following its brief tour twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Alligator Found Roaming the Streets of New York City > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c889ff0c-6aff-42ea-9733-7ed8c1ff8370&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species [Watch (HLS stream): Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHyAT7e9.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2013-12-04. What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? TIME's Bryan Walsh explains how animals like the Asian carp, lionfish, and Burmese python can be a threat._ by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Jul 24, 2015 6:29 PM UTC by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Jul 24, 2015 6:29 PM UTC New York City streets are no stranger no unwelcome and unexpected visitors, but they received a rather unusual one on Thursday when an undersized alligator was [discovered](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/nyregion/an-alligator-tours-new-york-city-joining-some-famous-fauna.html?smid=tw-nytmetro&%5Fr=0) roaming around Manhattan. It’s unknown where the creature came from, but the police that found the alligator brought it to animal control, the New York _Times_ reported. The picture distributed by the NYPD’s 34th precinct made it clear that humans would likely have little to fear from the alligator, given its size: > [](https://twitter.com/NYPD34Pct/status/624336009933791233) ## Transcript One of the biggest threats to endangered species isn't poaching, or pollution, or climate change. It's other animals. Here's what you need to know. Just look at the Asian carp, invasive species that have been threatening the US for years. The carp were imported by Midwest and fish farmers in the 1970s, eventually escaped due to flooding. The fish, which can grow as large as 110 pounds, who have a habit of leaping out of the water like silver missiles when they're threatened, are voracious eaters. US officials were so worried that the carp would make their way all the way up to the Mississippi River, and into the Great Lakes' ecosystem, that the White House named a carp czar in 2010, and has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to defend the Lakes; but those efforts may be for naught. A new study found out last month that a number of grass carp, a subspecies of Asian carp, seemed to have established themselves in a river that leads directly in to the Great Lakes, which means they could be setting up the stage to breed for years. Then there's the lion fish, a spine three- tipped species that has wreaked havoc in the Atlantic since it was accidentally introduced during Hurricane Andrew back in 1992. Lion fish is a rapid breeder, and an indiscriminate hunter, consuming more than 40 species, including valuable commercial ones like the grouper. Like many invasive species, they're especially dangerous because native species have no innate fear of them until too late. On land, Burmese pythons, often released accidentally as pets by their owners, have begun to menace the Florida everglades. The python can grow nearly 20 feet, can take down everything from bobcats to small alligators. In 2012, [ unk ] the everglades from the drastic reduction in the number of small mammals that tend to make up the diet of the python, a sign the snakes are beginning to have a major impact on one of the most important ecosystems in the United States. Given the threat from invasive species, it's unsurprising that governments spend billions of dollars a year in trying to deal with it. And the problem's getting worse. Part of the [ unk ] mixing up habitats, putting animals from one part of the world to another; while growing international trade can ship species across the globe. The fight against invasive species has long been a losing battle, and [ unk ] led some scientists to say time to stop trying to fight. After all, a species that left its home in Africa millions of years ago has since spread to every corner of the world. It should be a familiar one. 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