Warning after alligator found in Central Park lake

Visitors to New York’s Central Park were today warned to take care - after an alligator was discovered lurking in one of its lakes.

The 2ft-long reptile is living in the Harlem Meer, one of the lakes which dot the park in the centre of Manhattan, which attracts millions of tourists every year.

And although it is living happily on a diet of the lake’s fish, park chiefs are determined to catch it before it grows any larger or poses a danger to humans.

It is thought to have been dumped by a New York resident who bought it thinking it was a small lizard, only to see it grow too large for its tank.

But the alligator is in more danger than tourists - it cannot survive the cold New York winter and needs to be caught before temperatures plunge at the end of summer.

Parks commissioner Henry Stern said: ‘‘A lot of people are excited and looking around for it, but it hasn’t been seen since Saturday.

‘‘Unless you smear yourself with honey and stick your toes in the Meer, you’ll be fine.’’

The reptile is usually found in Florida and Louisiana, where it lives in swamps, and the Florida Keys.

And at 2ft, the Central Park alligator has a long way to go until it reaches maturity at about 6ft or more, but a bite from the reptile can result in a severe infection and a bad cut.

It was first spotted by an eight-year-old girl fishing with her father at the side of the lake, but he did not even turn around as he did not believe her.

When he told park employees they took to the water in a boat as the creature effortlessly avoided them in the 9ft-deep lake.

Officials may call in the employee who dealt with the last alligator found in a New York park by wrestling the 3ft reptile to the ground.

But the public should not approach the animal unless they have a specially issued hunting licence which allows them to turn it into alligator steaks and handbags.

New York was the city which gave birth to the myth of abandoned alligators and turtles living in the sewers - which became a cartoon series and a film in the form of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.