FGCU students took a picture of a gator in their Palmetto Hall dorm room and posted it on Snapchat Saturday, April 1. The post spread quickly across campus and eventually ended up in UPDs possession.
According to the incident report, when UPD was advised of the gator, it wasn’t in the dorm room anymore and was possibly in a student’s trunk.

UPD requested Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to come on scene and handle the issue.
The alligator was already dead before the students brought it to their dorm rooms. According to FWC public information officer Brian Norris, the dead alligator was found as roadkill and he believes it was found off campus.
When FWC first contacted the three students involved, the students first lied about what, where and how the alligator was in their dorm room. After discussing the matter further, the students told the truth, and the FWC officer issued three written warnings for possession of an alligator.
FWC then removed the dead alligator from campus.
“FWC advises people to leave alligators alone whether someone thinks it’s dead or alive,” Norris said. “State law prohibits the possession of any alligator without proper permits or licenses and even a small alligator can cause injury.”
There are signs posted around the school explaining that FGCU’s campus is shared with wildlife and that “they have a natural fear of man but may lose that fear, especially if they are fed. When this happens, alligators can be dangerous. For this reason it is against the university and state law to feed or molest or entice alligators in any way.”
According to the FWC website, when an alligator is believed to pose a threat to people, it will be considered a nuisance alligator and it will be removed.
“We expect everyone at FGCU to respect wildlife as an important part of the campus ecosystem, and to follow all state and federal laws, as well as university rules, regarding the protection of animals,” FGCU spokesperson Susan Evans said.