SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- An conservation agency is looking into how an alligator made its way to southeast Missouri recently.
Michael Mason of Scott City said the alligator was found near the Sand Prairie Conservation area in Scott County on the night of February, 17. Mason said his son Hunter discovered the large reptile on a bridge over one of the ditches where he goes bowfishing at.
A spokesman for the Missouri Department of Conservation stated the alligator has been inspected and biological data was obtained and sent to a state herpetologist.
It is unknown how the reptile got to this location, whether it was a pet which got loose or someone dropped it off, the MDC spokesperson noted.
In June of 2023, an alligator was also spotted and killed at Wappepello Lake in southeast Missouri.
According to the , the indigenous range of an alligator is native to parts of Texas, southern Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and the eastern coast of North Carolina.
