Concrete Jungle For Real? Three Feet Alligator Roams Streets of NYC

New Yorkers who woke up to an another busy day in the concrete jungle were more than surprised to see a three foot long alligator walking on the street.

The "wild" news was announced by the New York Police Department on their Twitter account, saying the animal was spotted on 9th Avenue in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, The New York Times reported.

NYPD also announced that the police took the animal off the street and the reptile was taken to  animal control. The reptile is thought to have either escaped from where it was kept or it was released by its owner, which happens more often than not.

Occasional appearances of wild animals in the city is not new to New Yorkers. There have been several reports of wild animals in the city's limited natural space, such as racoons, bald eagles, hawks, a baby black bears and even a coyote, which was followed and finally captured after a hot pursuit a couple of months ago, Times said.

All those animals listed above are the natural residents of the city's geography but due to the destruction of their natural habitats and overwhelming human settlement, they were forced to disappear. There also have been several incidents of exotic wild animals spotted in the city over the years, not just species that are the city's old residents.

One of the most staggering incidents that took place in the city was when the authorities were notified that there was a tiger kept in an apartment building in the Harlem neighborhood of the city in 2003.  Antoine Yates had brought in a baby tiger to his apartment in a public housing complex in 1999. He had named the tiger Ming and kept him in his tiny apartment for four years up until the authorities took away the animal and arrested Yates. He was then charged with possession of a wild animal and reckless endangerment, The Times reported.