The elusive alligator sighted in Whitney Point over recent days, which some people posting on social media doubted was real, is not only real but has been captured.

Officials with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have nabbed the reptile after following several reports of sightings that turned up no sign of the beast.

Animal Adventure exotic animal park in Harpursville says the DEC captured the alligator July 29 in the afternoon behind the Whitney Point Fairgrounds where the Broome County Fair had been taking place all week.

The animal is being permanently re-homed at Animal Adventure and will be on display after a period in quarantine.

It was suspected that the approximately three-foot long cold-blooded fugitive may have been an illegally-kept exotic pet that got too big for the owner and was released.

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