NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — All kinds of animals call Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo in New Braunfels, Texas, home, from lions and snakes to foxes and fowl.


What You Need To Know

  • San Antonio man found alligator in his yard

  • Animal has temporarily been relocated to Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo

  • Zoo director says hurricanes are destroying alligator habitats

  • People are also encroaching on alligator territory

"We’ve been here since 1967. Over the past dozen or so years, we’ve become an accredited zoo," said director Jarrod Forthman.

And a stopover for the unexpected. The zoo just welcomed a nearly five-foot alligator.

"We are one of the few places around that can legally house alligators," Forthman said.

That’s a good thing for one San Antonio man. He was taking out the trash a couple of weeks ago and found the gator in his yard. The zoo came to the rescue.

A lion appears at Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo in New Braunfels, Texas, in this image from August 2020. (Todd Boatwright/Spectrum News)

"I imagine this guy went up one of the little streams that leads to the neighborhood area and kind of got lost, " Forthman said.

And there’ve been similar stories recently of alligator sightings from Austin to Houston. Forthman says one reason is because hurricanes are destroying the animals’ nesting sites close to the coast.

"They’ve tended to start moving more inland than what we’re used to seeing," he said. 

Forthman says humans moving in on alligator’s territory doesn’t help either.

"The more we’re gonna have situations like this where alligators tend to be popping up in what we call 'peoples' territory, but it belonged to them before it belonged to us," Forthman said.

It'll be up to Texas Parks and Wildlife to find the gator permanent place to call home.