A man was enjoying his day with friends at Toronto’s High Park the other day when one of them noticed something strange swimming in the water. No one is quite sure how the 80cm alligator-like creature found its way to the pond, but it’s figured that perhaps someone had been keeping it as a pet, then it got too large, or the novelty wore off, so the owner ‘freed’ it.

caiman 1

City crews went to the pond after reports came in about the caiman being in there, but they didn’t have the equipment to capture it due to the fact that Canada hardly ever deals with such animals. They waited for the Toronto police marine and staff from the Reptile Zoo to come in, and together they captured the caiman within an hour. It was challenging to catch, as the caiman was relatively small, so it made it faster and more agile.

Caimans are native to South and Central America and take twenty years or more to grow to full size which can be up to 2.4 meters in length.