A 4ft alligator has been captured from a lake in a New York park. The reptile, which has reportedly been nicknamed Godzilla – was spotted on Sunday morning by staff in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

They contacted the park’s authorities, who then captured the gator in the park’s lake. It was later taken to the Bronx Zoo.

Alligators are native to the south-east of the US, in warm-climate states such as Florida and Louisiana. On Sunday, temperatures in New York reached highs of 9C (48.2F).

NYC Parks, the authority in charge of the metropolis’ green spaces, said the animal was in a poor condition, “very lethargic and possibly cold shocked” when it was found.

It is not known how the alligator came to be in the lake but the authority has warned residents not to release animals into the city’s parks, which it said was illegal.

No one was harmed by the alligator, which is being “evaluated”, NYC Parks said.

Alongside the “potential danger” of letting animals go in the city’s parks, non-indigenous wildlife can “lead to the elimination of native species and unhealthy water quality”, the authority said.

Each year, Urban Park Rangers across the city respond to around 500 reports involving animals, NYC Parks said.