HOT SPRINGS -- One of the 13 alligators stolen from the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo on Aug. 15 was found Wednesday morning and returned, the manager of the tourist attraction said Thursday.
"The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission brought one of the baby gators back to us yesterday," Jamie Bridges said.
Bridges, who was off work Wednesday, said a call was left on the office answering machine at 10:12 a.m. from a woman who said her husband had seen the small alligator in the road near Tepee Terrace, west of Lake Hamilton.
The woman said in the message that she knew alligators had been stolen from the farm and that she would report the sighting to Game and Fish.
Bridges said in August that security footage showed two people wearing masks and camouflage clothing breaking into the business at 2:40 a.m. Aug. 15. They placed the 13 alligators in backpacks and left in less than three minutes.
Twelve of the alligators were less than a year old and measured between 12 and 18 inches long. The other alligator was 7 years old and measured 2 to 3 feet long, Bridges said.
He said he believes Game and Fish authorities have developed some leads regarding the theft and thinks it may be someone who lives in the area where the gator was found.
Bridges said there have been unconfirmed reports that the larger alligator has been seen in Lake Hamilton.
"Whoever took them may be 'feeling the heat' and has let them go; just threw them out somewhere," he said.
Bridges said the larger alligator could survive on its own, but the smaller ones would have a hard time surviving because "a lot of things will feed on them when they are that size."
"They are prey for just about everything when they are that size. Truthfully, if we don't get the small ones back, or if they aren't in a protected area, I don't see them making it.
"Even in the wild, an alligator may lay 30 to 50 eggs, but only about 2 percent of the hatchlings make it to adulthood," he said.
State Desk on 09/04/2015