Alligator rescued from icy NYC lake dies at Bronx Zoo

An abandoned and emaciated alligator that was found in a New York City lake and sent to the Bronx Zoo for recovery has died in a “tragic case of animal abuse,” zoo officials said.

4-FOOT ALLIGATOR RESCUED FROM NEW YORK CITY LAKE

The zoo provided extensive medical treatment and nutritional support for the debilitated gator, but she succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, the zoo said in a statement.

“This alligator suffered and died because its owner decided to dump her in a frigid lake, in an extremely debilitated state rather than provide her with the veterinary care that could have saved her,” Bronx Zoo officials said. “Wild animals are not pets.”

ALLIGATOR FOUND IN NYC LAKE SWALLOWED BATHTUB STOPPER

An autopsy showed chronic and severe weight loss, extreme anemia and infections in the gator’s intestine and skin, the statement said. The gator, estimated to be 5 to 6 years old, also had a chronic ulcer in her stomach caused by a rubber bathtub stopper she had ingested while illegally kept as a pet.

That rubber stopper was later successfully removed.

When the gator was rescued from Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn in late February and brought to the Bronx Zoo for recovery, she weighed only 15 pounds. An alligator of her length should have weighed 30 to 35 pounds, officials said.