An alligator was euthanized from a South Huntsville neighborhood Thursday morning.

Citing the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, WHNT reported the animal was seen in the Jackson Bend subdivision off Haysland Road.

Staff for the DCNR said the alligator, which measured 10 feet 3 inches long and weighed about 275 pounds, was “acting abnormally.”

The American alligator can grow up to 15 feet in length and has been recently seen several times in the Huntsville area in the last few years, according to the department.

There was an alligator sighting in the Haysland Road area three years ago.

There have been varying accounts about how the alligators have made their home in the Tennessee River and its tributaries in north Alabama. Some have said they were brought in to control the beaver population.

Alligators are a federally protected species, but the DCNR website states, “Feeding an alligator is dangerous and illegal. When fed, alligators can overcome their natural wariness and learn to associate people with food. When this occurs, these alligators must be euthanized due to future safety concerns.”