July 10 (UPI) — An alligator on the loose for an entire month in Indiana was located by state wildlife authorities and safely returned to its owner.
The 20-year-old gator, named Irwin, escaped from a cooler June 5 while owner Mark Kolhorst was unloading his van in DeKalb County after putting on a wildlife show.
Kolhorst owns and operates Mark’s Ark, an Auburn business that puts on educational animal shows at schools and other venues.
The animal expert said Indiana Department of Natural Resources personnel captured Irwin and brought him home on Sunday.
Kolhorst said Irwin had been spotted in a neighbor’s pond just two days earlier, but he was unable to capture the reptile.
“I made several attempts with a casting net to catch Irwin. But unfortunately I ultimately did not succeed,” he wrote on social media.
He wrote he was concerned for the animal’s safety due to a neighbor’s threat to shoot Irwin.
Kolhorst said Irwin is now doing well and is settling back in at home.
Neighbors had raised concern about safety during the gator’s time on the loose.
Resident Susan McKown said she believes an alligator found in her pond in 2017 had also escaped from Kohlhorst’s property. Local authorities said another alligator was found in the area in 2012. Kohlhorst denied either of the reptiles were his.
Kohlhorst admitted animals have escaped from his property in the past, including a pony, a tortoise, a pig and an emu. The pony and pig were safely returned, but Kohlhorst made the decision to shoot the emu because it “posed a danger to traffic.”
He said Irwin did not pose a danger to the public, as he was accustomed to human interaction and subsides on a diet of small mice.
