Giant pet alligator taken away from Texas woman after 20 years

Caldwell County, Texas - An eight-foot-long alligator was kept as a pet by a Texas woman since it was a hatchling. Now, after 20 years, it's finally being moved to a more appropriate and safe home.

An eight-foot-long alligator named Tewa was kept as a pet for 20 years before being removed by Texas authorities.
An eight-foot-long alligator named Tewa was kept as a pet for 20 years before being removed by Texas authorities.  © Screenshot/Facebook/ Texas Game Wardens

Per footage shared by the Texas Game Wardens on Facebook, it took three people to carry the huge reptile away from the woman's property in Caldwell County, Texas.

The "pet owner," whose name the authorities haven't released, reportedly said that she got the gator as a hatchling from the Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo in New Braunfels, where she was a volunteer at the time, and had been raising it in her backyard for the past two decades.

Texas game warden Joann Garza-Mayberry told NPR he first spotted the alligator, named Tewa, on the woman's property last month, while investigating an unrelated incident: "It was compliant with her as she had raised it since a hatchling."

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She added that the gator had been well looked after and lived in a fenced-in area with an artificial pond.

Texas woman didn't have an alligator permit

Per Texas law, you need a permit to keep a live alligator – which Tewa's owner didn't have and wasn't likely to get, due to not meeting requirements.

The Texas Game Wardens ultimately reached out to Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo, and completed the gator's circle of life: Tewa's is now back where it all started.

The Texas woman who nurtured the animal is now facing two tickets for illegal possession of the alligator, each with a maximum fine of $500.

Cover photo: Screenshot/Facebook/ Texas Game Wardens

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