Alligator outgrows garden

Samson: Still growing strong

A pet alligator who grew too big for his owner's back garden has been shipped to Spain.

Samson, a Mississippi alligator, was bought as a hatchling 27 years ago and imported from the US.

But when the creature grew to six feet long, his owner contacted the RSPCA.

The alligator had been living in a specially-built outhouse in his owner's back garden in Bury, Greater Manchester

New laws

Samson has now been transported by boat and road to an alligator and crocodile park in Seville.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Terry Spamer said: "Mississippi alligators commonly live for about 80 years.

"Samson has got a lot of growing and developing to do.

"The owner realised he would not be able to provide the necessary facilities."

The alligator had been housed in a purpose-built building in the garden in Bury.

Legislation introduced since the 1970s has made it more difficult to import reptiles to the UK.

But the RSPCA still has to rescue about 3,700 exotic animals every year.