400-pound alligator moved from Texas pond to preserve

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GROVES, Texas (AP) — A 400-pound alligator safely hauled out of a Southeast Texas pond has a new home at a tourist attraction that caters to gators.

Gator Country preserve owner Gary Saurage (sarj) said Tuesday that the 11-foot reptile joins more than 400 other alligators at the preserve in Beaumont, Texas.

Saurage got the animal after a landowner in nearby Groves called about an aggressive alligator in a rural pond where children swim.

Saurage went to the swampy site to rope and remove the male alligator, which he estimates is 35 to 40 years old.

Saurage says the alligator is healthy and that he's happy to give the "majestic animal" a new home.

The biggest creature at Gator Country is a 12 foot, 6 inch alligator nicknamed Kong.

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Online:

http://www.gatorrescue.com/