A student who took his pet baby alligators on a taxi ride has been charged with importing or possessing wildlife without a permit.

Yifan Sun, a student at the University of Maine in the US, had the reptiles in a box during the trip in Augusta.

However, the box tipped over and the animals were let loose inside the vehicle.

Image: The alligators were said to be more than a foot long. Pic: Charles Eichacker, Kennebec Journal

Cab driver Frank Folsom said he helped round the reptiles, which were each more than a foot long.

The Kennebec Journal reports that Sun, from China, was charged as alligators are not allowed to be kept in Maine.


The 20-year-old told police he kept the alligators as pets and was taking them with him to visit someone in nearby Waterville.