Fisherman is shocked to find a caiman in Pennsylvania park lake

A man was fishing in a Philadelphia park when he caught what looked like an alligator sunning itself on the rocky banks.

Ike Peyton, from Delaware County, then captured the three-and-a-half foot creature with his hands and wrapped its jaws closed with caution tape before reporting it to police.

It was then handed to local animal shelter ACCT Philly, which nurtured it for a day before passing it to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

The small 'alligatorid' has now sparked a debate online, with many suggesting its a caiman, a species native to South America, while others claim it's actually an American alligator. 

What's certain is that it's some member of the alligator family - releasing any such animal into the wild is illegal in Pennsylvania.

Ike Peyton (pictured), a fisherman from Delaware County, captured the three-and-a-half foot member of the alligator family with his hands

Peyton wrapped its jaws closed with caution tape before reporting it to the police

The caiman was spotted at about 10am on March 5 in FDR Park in south Philadelphia.

'A lot of people frequent FDR park, especially on weekends,' Sarah Barnett, director of ACCT Philly, told DailyMail.com.

She described how the animal, now affectionately referred to as Cay Man, was taken back to the shelter but had to be housed in her office to save it from preying on other animals in its care.

'The room in which we usually keep non-cats and dogs had turtles and bunnies and guinea pigs. Things that they eat,' she said.

'We're not experts in the alligator-caiman debate, which seems to be a very heated one,' she said. She did however consult a zookeeper friend, who told her he was quite sure it was a caiman.

Barnett said the creature was initially cold, but after they purchased it and installed a specialist heater that day, it started coming back to life.

'He just needed to warm up, once the water warmed up he was more active, he was bright and alert but wasn't running around,' she said.

Sarah Barnett, director of animal shelter ACCT Philly, kept the creature on her office overnight

The creature was transferred to ACCT Philly, a nearby animal shelter, before being handed over to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission the next day

It's not clear exactly how the creature was captured, but one person described on social media how Peyton captured it with his bare hands.

'He came across it sunning itself on the bank while he was fishing, he didn’t catch it on his rod or reel it in. He alerted a nearby cop about it, then went back down and picked it up before it could dart into water,' said Megan Fitzsimmons. 

In a post on Sunday, ACCT warned people not to release pets into the wild.

'If you have an animal you can no longer keep, including caimans or any other animal that is extremely difficult to humanely house, please reach out to us instead of just letting them go,' it read.