Los Angeles ? Reptile wranglers searching for an alligator let loose in a southern California lake have given up the hunt – at least for now.

The alligator was spotted Aug. 12 in Harbor City’s Lake Machado, and since then hundreds of visitors have flocked to the South Los Angeles park for a glimpse.

However, the reptile has not been seen since Aug. 21.

“We are considering this halftime,” Tim Williams, a 30-year gator handler from Florida, said Friday when the search was called off. “He’s won the first half.”

Two men, one a Los Angeles officer, were arrested this past week for conspiring to release the alligator in the 56-acre lake.

Williams said the gator has plenty of food – frogs and crayfish inhabiting the lake, and tortillas and chicken legs left by visitors and park officials.