Officials captured a large male alligator that had wandered to a mall in Estero, Florida, and released it into the wild.

The gator is 12 feet long and weighs about 600 pounds, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies were called Thursday when the reptile was spotted at the Coconut Point Mall; the sheriff’s office did not say whether the alligator had gone inside any buildings.

For comparison, the longest Florida alligator recorded since 1977 was 14 feet and 3 inches long, weighing 654 pounds, while the heaviest was 13 feet and 10 inches long and weighed 1,043 pounds, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission records.

Video posted on Facebook by the sheriff’s office shows deputies as well as FWC staff outdoors hoisting the alligator into a truck bed as bystanders watched.

The alligator was taken to safer waterways, the sheriff’s office told WBBH-TV.

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