'Chucky' the Alligator Found on Ala. Coast

Link : http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040922/ap_on_fe_st/ivan_alligator&e=5&ncid=



GULF SHORES, Ala. - Chucky, the 1,000-pound alligator that slipped away from a small coastal zoo amid flooding during Hurricane Ivan, was found in a ditch and returned to zoo care.



Chucky drew wide notice when he turned fugitive from the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo after the hurricane pounded the coast Thursday.


WKRG-TV News Director Dan Cates said volunteers from Gatorland in Orlando, Fla., joined the hunt for Chucky about 7 p.m. Tuesday and only three hours later spotted him in the ditch water behind a bank on Fort Morgan Road.


It took half a dozen people, including police and state troopers, to haul Chucky out of the ditch and take him to his new but temporary home ?- in a bear's den ?- while his pond is being repaired. The capture of the 14-foot alligator caused such a stir that recovery and cleanup crews stopped what they were doing to watch.


Zoo general manager Kate Ramon had been worried that Chucky might cause harm if not found.


"We keep Chucky well fed, so he's normally not dangerous. But he's out now and he's dangerous. We've got to find him," she said Friday.