A woman is charged with possessing an alligator without the proper permits, and she is a pet named Tewa, according to the zoo

A number of requirements are needed to possess live alligators in Texas, including an alligator farmer permit. The zoo sent staff members to help transport an alligator to its new home, after the state agency reached out because the woman wouldn’t be allowed to have an alligator on her property.

Investigators were at a property in rural Caldwell County for a separate incident when they saw the alligator in a pen, Texas Game Wardens spokesperson Jen Shugert said Monday.

The woman was cited for possession of an alligator without the proper permits and illegal possession of an alligator egg. Each can have fines of up to $500.

The woman, who lives in Caldwell County in central Texas, told Texas Parks and Wildlife officials that she treated the alligator as a pet, naming it Tewa. The woman’s name was not released.

It’s not clear whether the large reptile came when it was called. Texas Game Warden JoAnn Garza- Mayberry toldNPR that the gator was compliant with her as she had raised it.

The unlikely pet was first spotted last month by Garza-Mayberry. There are videotapes that show an alligator living in a fenced backyard with an artificial pond.

“Alligators naturally shy away from humans,” the wildlife agency notes in its guidelines on the animals. Problems arise when people give food to alligators. The alligator loses its fear of humans and begins to associate people with food.”