Updated July 16, 2019: A week after an alligator was first spotted in a Chicago park lagoon, officials reported that the animal had been captured. What did it take? Officials closed much of the park for a day, and brought in an alligator expert from Florida. The animal was expected to be checked out and eventually moved to an animal sanctuary or zoo.

CHICAGO — Chicago has been captivated for several days by an alligator that was spotted in the unlikeliest of locations: a city park on the West Side. A community search has been launched for the creature from the lagoon, which is about four feet long, weighs between 10 and 30 pounds, and has lots of scales, giant nostrils and beady eyes.

Dawn or dusk, crowds gather along the edge of the park’s murky, lily-padded lagoon and gaze out, hoping for a glimpse. People clap when a guy named Bob, a volunteer with the Chicago Herpetological Society, heads out once again in a canoe to keep looking. And thousands of residents cast their votes in a poll to name the elusive gator. (“Chance the Snapper,” a play on the name of a popular local rapper, edged out options like “Frank Lloyd Bite” and “Croc Obama.”)

This is hardly alligator country, and the reptile seems to have done all it can to stay out of the limelight. Yet Chicago has swooned.