An alligator found on the Long Island Expressway near Exit 68 on Monday morning is now in the custody of the SPCA, but the questions are just beginning! The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information about the alligator's origins—namely because keeping an alligator is illegal. SPCA head Roy Gross said, "This is not something that will be tolerated in Suffolk County and if you have something like this, you're not only endangering yourself or your family but you're endangering the public." more ›

The Bronx Zoo is welcoming not one, but two sets of tiger triplets! Check out the Malayan and Amur tigers frolicking around in the videos below. The Daily News reports that the Malayan cubs were actually abandoned by their mother—the Zoo's director told them, "She just kind of woke up one day and decided she didn't want to take care of them anymore. If it had happened in the wild the cubs would have perished." Meanwhile, the Amur triplets are still nursing, and their 300-lb doting mom Sasha is always nearby protecting them. more ›

This year's San Gennaro festival was offering up more than just zeppoles... it introduced real wild animals into Little Italy! Capital reports that on Mulberry Street, just south of Houston Street, there's "a set of three cages—one empty, one holding a caged baby lion, and a third with a box containing two tiger cubs" (looks like the empty one held a bear). And we're guessing these little guys have the same opinion on street fairs as Bloomberg. The site notes that "the lion's style was kinda cramped," and it appears that the people already spoke on their behalf, because yesterday the exhibit was being dismantled. Did you see them while they were there? more ›

There have been some strange things confiscated in New York City airports, but Bangkok International airport just discovered the most precious of cargos. According to the AP, authorities there found a baby tiger cub drugged and hidden in a 31-year-old Thai woman's suitcase, who was flying from Thailand to Iran. In what seems like an effort to disguise the real one, the tiger was amongst stuffed tigers. more ›

Since Connecticut has banned the ownership of exotic animals—including gorillas, chimps, orangutans, lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, ocelots, bobcats and other big, wild cats, wolves, coyotes and bears—as pets, the state is offering a one-day amnesty program that will allow people to bring in their exotic and illegal pets to a zoo without repercussions. The Connecticut Post reports, "All animals collected become property of the DEP... homes will be found for the animals, though probably not at the zoo. Most of the pets will likely go to wildlife sanctuaries or other agencies equipped to handle them." The director of the Beardsley Zoo, where owners can turn in their pets on July 25, Gregg Dancho said he's seen monkeys hanging out in kitchen and people walking mountain lions, "A lot of times, this is impulse buying." Oh, this reminds us of Ming, the tiger found in a Harlem apartment nearly six years ago. more ›

Finally, we all have closure for a 2004 incident where a tiger from the Cole Bros. Circus escaped, ran along the Jackie Robinson Highway, and then passed out in some bushes. See, drivers who caught glimpse of Apollo, a 450-pound tiger, were naturally startled and ended up in a five-car pile-up (started when one driver didn't want to hit the huge creature). And, naturally, those drivers sued. 1010WINS reports that the tiger's trainer will pay a near $1 million settlement to two drivers "both claimed to have suffered devastating back injuries in the chain-reaction car crash." Apollo's escape at the time gave State Senator Carl Kruger more reason to ban the circus, especially considering Cole Bros. had also included flying cats. more ›

In the wake of the horrific tiger escape resulting in one death and two injuries at the San Francisco Zoo, zoos around the country are examining their tiger exhibit set-ups. Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo has the following set-up, per the Post:

Tiger Mountain is surrounded by a moat about 10 feet wide and is enclosed by a fence that is 15 feet high and has a five-foot overhang. That means that the last five feet slant inward. more ›

It may not be sweeps months, but WCBS 2 had a segment about a 12-week tiger cub who got a CT scan at a Long Island animal hospital. It's way easier on the eyes than the "woman who had a coat rack stuck in her face" story. Simba, a Siberian tiger at an Ohio zoo, was going to be put to sleep because she had a very bad sense of balance and could possibly... more ›