Videos of an alligator basking in the sun at one of Mesa’s most popular parks have swept TikTok and Reddit in recent weeks, keeping online users on their toes as to why it’s there.
Dozens of concerned residents and visitors of Mesa Riverview Park have also called up park officials to report the strange sighting, said Maria Godinez, spokesperson for Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.
“We’ve had several people calling us and emailing us about it,” she said. “Everyone was like, ‘You all need to call the police right now!'”
Alligator in Mesa Riverview Park is for turtles
But fret not — it’s all part of a park initiative to protect the lake’s turtles and help them safely bathe in the sun, Godinez said.
In November, the park placed a fake 11-foot alligator and two fake hippos on Riverview Lake to provide a safe area for the turtles to step in and out of the water.
The initiative came after the park tried other methods like adding steps, but the turtles would often be trapped outside of the water and end up dead throughout the park’s road paths.