Tortoise suspected of helping baby alligator escape from zoo

The owner of a zoo on Michigan's Upper Peninsula says a 12-inch alligator has escaped with the help of a tortoise accomplice. It seems that as a large tortoise shuffled along in its enclosure at the GarLyn Zoo it may have created a furrow deep enough for Carlos the baby alligator, to slide under a fence and make a break for it.

The alligator escaped from the zoo, located in Mackinac County, on Saturday and was spotted by passersby, who in turn tipped off police. Zoo owner Gary Moore said he was relieved to find out the gator on the run wasn’t one of the adults, who are six to eight years old, are about five to seven feet long, and were given to the zoo because they had become too much for their owners to handle.

“My first thought was it was a large gator that got out,” Moore said. “I was really relieved to find out it was just a little guy that got out.” An AABP – alligator all-points bulletin – was put out, but Carlos is still missing. Moore admits “it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack trying to find a foot long alligator in sticks and stuff.” Moore says he hopes Carlos can be found before cooler weather sets in.

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“Once it drops down to 50 degrees he won't eat they need warm temps to digest food,” he said. “Beyond October his days are numbered." Carlos was last seen on US Highway 2. Michigan State Police helped in the initial search for Carlos. “It's not every day you see a complaint come in where law enforcement is dispatched to an escaped alligator,” Trooper Fred Strich said. Anyone who sees the reptile is asked to call the Michigan Department of Natural Resources or Michigan State Police.