RIGA, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Latvian firemen and veterinary workers have caught an alligator in a small pond in the suburbs of the capital, local emergency services said on Monday.

The five-foot-long reptile gave residents a fright in a small community near Riga, who immediately called the emergency services.

The crocodile was caught with a net, transported to a local zoo, and examined by medical personnel.

Police are still unsure how the animal ended up in the pond, but suspect it could have been kept by a nearby resident as a household pet, and escaped.

Cases of alligators being kept as pets are extremely rare. Even in the United States, where there are reportedly eight million pet reptiles, only a few are alligators or crocodiles.