There are plenty of animals that are illegal to keep as pets in New York City. These include, but aren't limited to wolves, tigers, alligators, and dolphins.

While we thought that whole list should have gone without saying, apparently there are those who disagree, and tried to raise wild animals in their NYC apartments. Then, they release these animals onto the streets. 

Whether it's alligators on the street, holed away in an apartment, or boa constrictors jailbreaking themselves out of the zoo, the truth is pretty petrifying. 

Mice, squirrels, and cockroaches aren't the only lifeforms hanging out in NYC.

Read on to find out what wild animals have roamed, cageless and outside of zoos, within the borders of NYC.

1. In July of 2015, an alligator was found crossing a street in Inwood

Via Daily News

Yes, you read that right. There was an alligator, chilling on a street. In Inwood.

A tweet from NYC's 34th precinct revealed an alligator was found crossing 9th Avenue. The police kept the giant reptile in one spot long enough for the Animal Care Center's arrival.

Sadly, the alligator died 12 hours after its rescue. Likely, someone had the alligator as an illegal pet that someone released once it was too big to care for.

[anad]

"We have no knowledge of the conditions CockadoodleQ had lived in prior to his arrival that contributed to his death," said the Animal Care Center center in a post-death statement. 

The Animal Care Center believed the alligator was one or two years old, and was found 50 feet from the Harlem River. 

[via The Blaze]

2. Also in July 2015, boa constrictors and an alligator were found in a Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment

CockadoodleQ in Inwood, wildly enough, wasn't the only alligator on the loose in NYC in July of 2015.

Using a search warrant, police officers discovered several exotic animals holed away as pets in 44-year-old Johnnie Morgan's apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant. When officers raided Morgan's Atlantic Avenue apartment, they found nine boa constrictors, an alligator, and live ammunition.

It was not Morgan's first run-in with the law for fostering wild animals either.

In fact, Morgan has been arrested 17 times since 1992, some of which were for trying to raise wild animals as pets.

"The man did not deserve to be arrested for having and loving animals," said one of Morgan's neighbors.

Seems like July of 2015 was the Month of Wild Alligators in NYC. Hey everyone, alligators aren't good pets. Can we all please stop trying to raise them in our tiny apartments?

[via ABC]

3. A Cobra escaped from the Bronx Zoo in 2011

Via Daily Mail

In March of 2011, an Egyptian Cobra slithered out of the Bronx Zoo's World of Reptiles and remained missing for six days, erupting chaos, headlines across the globe, and three daily sweeps by half-a-dozen zoo workers.

When the cobra eventually was found, she was 100 feet from the cage she'd somehow escaped. Zoo officials guessed where the cobra might be hiding, and sprinkled rodent-scented wood shavings among the pipes she was hiding in.

"We wanted to just let her feel comfortable," Bronx zoo director Jim Breheny said. "We did everything we could to help her feel secure."

[via Daily News]

4. In April of 2015, a coyote was caught in Manhattan

Via NY Post

There were multiple horrifying coyote sightings in NYC throughout April of 2015.

On April 22nd, 2015, police investigated reports of a coyote sighting around 6 a.m. at riverside Park along the Hudson River. Emergency service units combed the area, and police officers prowled with snares searching for the coyote. 

This coyote was never found, but wildlife officials believed it was healthy and retreated back to its den.

[anad2]

The week prior, police captured a coyote in the courtyard of a church in Chelsea. They apprehended the coyote by shooting it with a sedated dart gun, and then brought it to an animal care facility.

"We've have been encroaching into the natural habitat, so these opportunists coyotes, have been looking for other sources of prey that is natural to them," said Animal Planet predator expert Dave Salmoni.

Salmoni also said coyotes are becoming less afraid of humans, but that they're thankfully "a very low-risk animal for people." He said the risk of being killed by a coyote is about the same as the risk of being killed by a vending machine.

[via CBS]

5. In 2011, a peacock escaped from the Central Park Zoo

Via Huffington Post

On Tuesday, August 2nd of 2011, a peacock flew from the Central Park Zoo to perch on a Fifth Avenue window ledge. That peacock must have had expensive taste, as a condo there sold for $22.5 million in 2009.

"A male peafowl or peacock has wandered from the Central Park Zoo. The peacock poses no danger to anyone," said the Wildlife Conservation Society in a statement.

While the peacock perched on the window, about 100 people gathered below to point and take pictures. 

"We are working to resolve this situation and ask the public and representatives of the media to refrain from doing anything that would encourage the bird to move before it is ready to do so. Home is a short flight across the avenue," said Central Park Zoo director Jeff Sailer.  

Sure enough, the peacock flew back to the Central Park Zoo just before 7 a.m. the next day.

[via NY Times and Huffington Post]

Check out 7 Gorgeous Places You Never Even Knew Existed in NYC.