A four-foot-long alligator was found in a lake in a state park in New York City, USA.

Prospect Park staff in Brooklyn saw the alligator – who is said to be nicknamed Godzilla – on Sunday morning.

Workers contacted park management officials, who then pulled the crocodile from the park’s lake, and later transferred it to the Bronx Zoo.

Alligators live in the southeastern United States, in states with warm climates, such as Florida and Louisiana.

It is not known how the crocodile appeared in the lake, but the authority warned residents not to release the animals in city parks, describing it as illegal.

The New York City Parks Authority said the alligator, which is being “evaluated”, no one was hurt.

Besides the “potential risk” of allowing the animals into city parks, the non-native wildlife could cause “the elimination of native species and unhealthy water quality,” the authority said.

Every year, the Urban Parks Watch across the city receives about 500 animal reports, according to the New York City Parks Authority.