Two small alligators have been relocated to an animal sanctuary after they were found at a home inhabited by squatters in San Bernardino, authorities said.
The gators were seized last Thursday when San Bernardino police visited a home on Santa Fe Street.
Original reports that they were found at a homeless encampment were incorrect.
With the assistance of California Fish and Wildlife experts, the alligators were eventually transported to Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary, a non-profit sanctuary located in Phelan.
One of two alligators seized from a homeless encampment in San Bernardino, Calif. Nov. 2023 (City of San Bernardino) 
One of two alligators seized from a homeless encampment in San Bernardino, Calif. Nov. 2023 (City of San Bernardino) 
One of two alligators seized from a homeless encampment in San Bernardino, Calif. Nov. 2023 (City of San Bernardino)
“They’re not in the best of shape. They had some white paint on them. Their skin is not in the best condition,” Joel Almquist, the sanctuary’s co-founder, told KTLA’s Shelby Nelson on Friday.
Almquist believes the gators are around two years old. One of them has been named Loki after the Marvel character.
While the gators are small now -about two-and-a-half feet long- experts say they can grow up to 12 feet.
“When you buy a small alligator or a cayman or something like that, when they get bigger it’s a potential hazard for other residents [and] local wildlife,” Almquist said. “They do not make good pets and 99% of people aren’t set up to have something like this in their home.”
It is unclear if the squatters will face charges for keeping the gators as pets, which is illegal in San Bernardino.
