A Texas woman raised an alligator as a pet for 20 years. Now it's been seized

Texas Game Warden Joann Garza-Mayberry was visiting a house on an unrelated call when she spotted an alligator on the property. The gator, raised as a pet, is now living at a reptile zoo. (Texas Game Wardens)

It was tiny when it left the zoo and nearly 8 feet long when it returned: A Texas woman says she got an alligator from a zoo some 20 years ago, and has been raising it in her backyard ever since.

The woman, who lives in Caldwell County in central Texas, told Texas Parks and Wildlife officials that she treated the alligator as a pet, naming it Tewa. Authorities did not release the woman's name.