ADEL, Ga. — “If it’s on the Internet is must be true” isn’t true.

A photograph making the rounds on Facebook purporting to show a monster alligator twice the size of a human being caught at Reed Bingham State Park in Cook County is actually a photo of an African crocodile nowhere near North America, according to an expert in reptiles who researched the photo.

In the real world, the state park recently had to close its swimming beach because of reports of large (six-foot) alligators lurking too close. A trapper was called in and at least three alligators were captured and killed.

Chet Powell, a herpetologist — an expert in reptiles — and former manager at the park said he started getting calls about the Facebook monster alligator photo Thursday.

To someone who knows what to look for, he said, the photo was clearly not what the posts claimed.

“Adult alligators in South Georgia are solid black,” he said. “African crocodiles are greenish, like the creature in the picture.”

Crocodiles like the one in the photo have a pointed snout, while alligators are blunt-nosed, according to Powell.

Also, a man visible in the photograph is a well-known hunter in Mozambique, he said.

Whoever attached the photo to a false posting on Facebook may have meant it as a joke or as a means of waving for attention, but Powell said people aren’t taking it as a joke in the wake of a June 14 fatal alligator attack at Walt Disney World that killed a 2-year-old.

“It’s not a good idea, just going out and killing alligators out of fear,” said Powell, who works with the Georgia Wildlife Rescue Association.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.