Theme park sends wrestlers to catch LA alligator

The elusive alligator discovered in a Los Angeles lake has become quite the celebrity, so a theme park in Florida wants to help the city capture it and maybe give it a little star treatment.

Three alligator wrestlers and a cameraman from Gatorland in Orlando began to scour Machado Lake yesterday in hopes of catching the big reptile. The lake is about 20 miles south of Los Angeles.

They offered to do the job for free (travel expenses not included), and would even drive the reptile back to Gatorland if LA decided not to keep it.

The attempt follows an unsuccessful search last week by Colorado-based gator wrangler Jay Young, who tried for two days and was paid $1,600 (€1,300).

“We have a 110-acre park where alligators live a long, happy, sheltered life,” Gatorland spokeswoman Michelle Harris said. “We think he would make a nice fit.”

Harris said the alligator – who’s been nicknamed Carlito and Harbour Park Harry - could be housed in an exhibition area with two others. One was seized in Miami and one is known to eat dogs, she said.

The alligator’s undeniable fame appears to have rubbed off on Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn.

“They offered to take it back, but we haven’t decided that’s the right thing to do,” Hahn said. “After all, it’s an LA gator.”

She hopes it will be captured soon, and then residents can see the gator, later, when it resettles at the Los Angeles Zoo.

“It would be fun for neighbourhood kids to visit,” she said.

The creature was first spotted on August 12, and officials initially believed it was a close alligator relative from the Amazon called a caiman.

Crowds gathered around the cordoned lake, binoculars in hand, in hopes of a sighting.

Some lobbed tempting treats, including tortillas, French bread, jelly doughnuts and raw chicken. Vendors began selling T-shirts with an alligator logo and the tagline: “You will never catch me!!”

Television crews staked out the lake, but the gator has generally been camera shy. Rarely have people seen much more than its eyes poking above the lake’s water line in recent days.

Tim Williams, Gatorland’s so-called gator guru and dean of gator wrestling, said all the attention visitors have been lavishing on the lake creature won’t lure the reptile. What will, he said, is grunting out a gator call.

“The eyes glow red at night and when you grunt ’em, it’s just a gruntin’ call,” said Williams, who claims to have spent 30 years wrestling gators. He demonstrated the call by making a rapid guttural noise that sounded like someone trying not to throw up.

“We’ll try to hunt him at night, get close, either get a noose or grab him,” said Williams. “He’s not that big, and then we’ll go from there.”