Catching the alligator that swam around the Humboldt Park lagoon for a week wasn’t cheap.
In the end, the total bill cost the city more than $33,000, officials said Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information request.
In a statement, the city Department of Animal Care and Control broke down the price tag of the weeklong search earlier this month for the 5-foot reptile.
“Labor costs” and equipment used by the Department of Streets and Sanitation to cordon off sections of the park accounted for the majority of the bill, totaling $22,842.35.
Overtime pay for Animal Care and Control employees cost $6,140.48.
Frank Robb — an alligator expert from Florida who quickly caught the reptile after several days of futile efforts by local hunter “Alligator Bob” — charged the city $2,500 for his work. The city also covered his travel and lodging, which totaled $2,166.34.
Chicago police and the park district did not incur any extra costs during the search, according to Animal Care and Control. The alligator’s flight to Florida was paid for by the zoo that now houses the animal.
Internal emails show that Robb — who threw out the first pitch at a Cubs game and turned on Buckingham Fountain during his time in the city — was recommended by the staff at Brookfield Zoo.
On July 13, four days after the gator was discovered in the lagoon, Robb emailed Kelley Gandurski, the executive director of Animal Care and Control.
“I will come there for 2 days and work on it solid for $2,500,” Robb wrote. “This is not a guarantee but I am very confident in what I do. I will bring my own equipment and gear and will catch the animal alive.”
Robb also asked that the park be closed so he could “work in stealth.”
“Lord willing, after I am completed I would have no issues discussing this with the media or even showing them the animal,” he said.
The day that Robb caught the gator, John Brueggen, the executive director of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida, reached out to Gandurski to offer to take the reptile.
“We will be happy to take him into our collection,” Breuggen wrote. “Why shouldn’t he have an opportunity to retire in sunny Florida?”
