NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- The alligator that fought for months to survive after being found in a frigid Prospect Park Lake in February died earlier this week, according to the Bronx Zoo, which had been caring for the abandoned reptile.
The zoo said Friday that the alligator was unable to survive the many maladies linked to being kept as a pet in the city and then dumped in the lake in the middle of winter.
Temps were in the 30s when the critter was found clinging to life on Feb. 19.
"Despite extensive ongoing medical treatment, nutritional support and the successful removal of a bathtub stopper she had ingested while illegally kept as a pet, the alligator died on Sunday," the Bronx Zoo said in its latest update on the gator.
A necropsy revealed the animal was suffering from a host of illnesses—chronic and severe weight loss, extreme anemia and infections in her intestine and skin.
She also had a chronic ulcer in her stomach caused by a rubber stopper. The zoo has previously surmised the stopper came from a tub the alligator was placed in while being kept as a pet.
"Despite the intensive care, the alligator was so emaciated, debilitated, and anemic, her immune system was not as strong as it needed to be and she succumbed to those infections," the zoo said.
The gator was estimated to be 5 or 6 years old. She weighed only 15 pounds, well below the normal weight of 30 to 35 pounds.
Releasing animals in city parks is illegal, and police continue to investigate.
The Bronx Zoo called the situation a "tragic case of animal abuse."
"Alligators and other wild animals do not belong in the pet trade or in people's homes," the zoo said. "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."
For years, New Yorkers have pondered the myth that alligators roam the city’s sewer system, even celebrating Alligators in the Sewers Day as an unofficial February holiday.
While the urban legend has been kept alive for decades, experts throw cold water on the theory. Alligators aren’t suited to the sewer system's frigid, toxic environment, they say.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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