For the second time in less than a month, a mutilated alligator has been found in Florida.
The latest discovery happened Thursday in Stuart at the Hosford Park Boat Ramp.
A picture tweeted by kayaking enthusiast Kino Velez shows a dead alligator on the boat ramp. It had been largely dismembered – missing its head, tail and most of its limbs.
“The fact that the tail was missing, that’s the dead give-away that it has been poached,” Velez said. “The tail is where a gator’s meat is found.”
Velez believes he had seen this particular alligator before during his regular kayaking outings along the St. Lucie River.
“It belongs to all of us and they took a resource from us,” he said. “And we won’t get that back anytime soon,” Velez said.
Velez made his discovery one day before Nov. 1, which is the end of Florida’s alligator hunting season which began in mid-August.
About four weeks ago, on Oct. 1, a woman driving to her parents’ home in Sarasota discovered a headless alligator along the side of a road. The woman, Kimberly Kukich, said she was appalled and shared the image on social media saying it looked like the alligator’s head had been cut off with a chainsaw.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says anyone with information about wildlife crimes can call the agency at 888-404-3922.
Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-CBS12 contributed to this report.
