Mysterious free-roaming hippo captured in southern Mexico

A local offers a hippopotamus which locals have named Tyson, a branch to snack on, in Las Chopas, Veracruz state, Mexico, Friday, March 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Armando Serrano)

MEXICO CITY -- A hippopotamus that has been roaming loose in a swampy area of southern Mexico has been caught and transported to a zoo.

Mexico's office for environmental protection said Tuesday that experts had lured the 1,320-pound (600 kilogram) animal into a cage after issuing a call "asking for the help of the community, to allow specialists to do their job and capture and transfer Tyson."

Residents of Las Choapas in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz had nicknamed the hippo Tyson after it appeared nearby.

Nobody knows where it came from, but hippos are not native to the country. Townspeople apparently resisted efforts to trap the animal, which authorities said could pose a danger to the public and native species.