An alligator was caught on Norris Lake— what do Tennessee wildlife officers have to say?

UNION COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) — Social media has been abuzz since a young angler on Norris Lake caught an alligator Monday. The incident has raised questions about the animal’s origins, lake safety and more. WVLT News asked the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Matt Cameron for answers.

Previous Coverage: Alligator caught on Norris Lake in Union County

The call came around 5 p.m., Cameron said, prompting TWRA Officer Rick Roberts to investigate the scene. When Roberts arrived, he found the angler certainly did have an alligator on the shore.

“Sure enough, the angler had an alligator pinned to the ground,” Cameron said.

So, where did the alligator come from? Cameron said it was likely brought into the state illegally.

“Someone brought it from another state and turned it loose in Norris Lake,” Cameron said, adding that while alligators do occasionally make their way into the Volunteer State, they’ve only been seen naturally in southwest parts of the state.

Cameron also said it’s illegal to own or bring an alligator into Tennessee, calling it an invasive species. He said Tennessee isn’t a good place for alligators to be.

“East Tennessee is not a good alligator habitat,” Cameron said. “They like swampy areas, warmer climates. Here in Tennessee, the winters get extremely cold and they don’t prefer deep-water lakes.”

When it comes to safety, Cameron said most people don’t need to worry about alligator-infested Tennessee waters, but anything is possible.

“Are there going to be alligators out there? Probably not, but it is possible that someone brought another one illegally into Tennessee and illegally released it,” Cameron said.

At only three or four years old, the alligator caught on Norris Lake wasn’t a major threat to human safety either, Cameron said, but a wild animal is still a wild animal.

“One this size is not a big threat to safety, but it does have teeth and can bite,” Cameron said.

Cameron’s message to people who see an alligator in Tennessee? Stay away and call TWRA. He also said the agency wants calls from anyone with an alligator in their possession so officers can retrieve it and take it to a habitat or organization better suited for it.

There’s still the question of where the alligator will end up. As of now, it’s at Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue in Anderson County, but it won’t be staying there. Like Cameron said, East Tennessee’s climate is not friendly to alligators.

Corbin Cox, director at Little Ponderosa, said he couldn’t believe it when he got the call from TWRA.

“I’m like ‘Surely it’s a caiman.’ You know, we’ve had this before, but he’s the real deal,” Cox said about the gator.

Cox and the crew at Little Ponderosa are caring for the alligator until they can find it a more suitable home. Cox said they don’t have the space or the adequate equipment to care for an alligator properly.

“Right now, we’re trying to get him warmed up,” Cox said. “We’re hoping to get him going until we can move him on to the place that can really do a good job for him.”

So far, though, the places Little Ponderosa has reached out to doesn’t have any more capacity.