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“The alligator is a wild animal and poses immense danger to any person who could come into contact with it,” Chicago police wrote in a tweet.

Since 1998, the city has seen 20 alligators, Schlueter said. Some came through confiscating resident’s pets, while others were rescued from the Chicago River or Lake Michigan. She believes it is the first time an alligator has ever surfaced in the Humboldt Park lagoon.

“It’s not usual,” she noted, “but it isn't the first time it’s happened, either.”

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