A caiman, a reptile native to Mexico, Central and South America and related to alligators, was recovered from a Philadelphia park Sunday.

The abandoned pet was found in the city’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park by police at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Law enforcement proceeded to call in the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia, a nonprofit contracted out by the city, to rescue the reptile.

The park, known locally as the Lakes, contained the amount of water needed for the caiman, whose natural habitats largely consist of swamps and marshes.

ACCT Philly tweeted, “Having buyers remorse about purchasing an animal who will grow to be 5 ft, live to be 40, and requires a studio apt with half being temp. controlled water? DON’T RELEASE IT. Contact us, we won’t tell your mom she was right. Promise.”

Abandoning pets, including caimans, is illegal. As a nonnative species, the caiman would have also become desperate for food, leading it to attack easier prey, such as small dogs.

The juvenile specimen recovered from the park is about 3 years old and 3.5 feet long, ACCT Philly told CNN. It was not yet starving and appeared in good condition, suggesting it had been abandoned recently.

“We really wish people would think twice before obtaining any new pet, but particularly ones like this that require so much care. The internet makes it far too easy to obtain everything from a tiger cub to an alligator. Just because you can get it doesn’t mean you should have it,” ACCT Philly Executive Director Sarah Barnett told WCAU-TV, a Philadelphia NBC affiliate.

The reptile was picked up by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Monday and taken to a rehab facility.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.