Aid Coming For Alligator At Beaver Run Reservoir
PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - The Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County has a reptile problem. A 5-foot long alligator has taken up residence in the 25 miles of shoreline, and residents and officials are attempting a gator rescue.
The problem is that the water is 15-feet deep, and the cold weather is coming which would likely kill the creature. To the rescue is Henry Kacprzyk of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, and he talks to KDKA-AM's Larry and John about how he plans to trap the gator and what he'll do with it.
"I'd love to say I'm going to jump on the gator and evade his jaws coming down with a thousand pounds per square inch of jaw pressure, however I need to be realistic- more than likely, we're going to have to trap this animal," said Kacprzyk.
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Zoo officials will be setting up a box trap this week in an effort to rescue the alligator.
Representatives from the Pittsburgh Zoo toured the reservoir to look for signs of the alligator.
"We went out for our first run at seeing where we could set up a trap," he said. "In the event that we got lucky, we were prepared to try to physically capture the animal."
They didn't see it.
"We are going to put the trap in a location that the Westmoreland County Water Authority personnel can inspect on a daily basis," Kacprzyk explained.
"Should it be tripped, they're going to call us, we're going to go out and take the animal either out of the trap or transport within a trap back here to the zoo."
They hope to catch the gator within the next three weeks.
Once the alligator is captured, it will temporarily be housed at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
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