Large non-native snapping turtle captured in Virginia

June 16 (UPI) -- Police in Virginia said officers responded to a residential neighborhood to apprehend an unusual suspect: a 65-pound alligator snapping turtle.

The Fairfax County Police Department said Animal Protection Police were summoned to an Alexandria neighborhood where the large turtle was spotted wandering loose.

The animal was identified as an alligator snapping turtle, a species that is not native to Virginia.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials said they suspect the turtle was a pet bred in captivity and released into the wild.

The turtle, dubbed Lord Fairfax by rescuers, was taken to the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk.