Alligators

When I was growing up in South Central Louisiana in the 1970s and 1980s, my cohorts and I spent a lot of time in and around the local waterways.  We would see alligators on occasion but they were hardly a nuisance.  The animals seemed to be wary of humans and shied from us.

Today, 2015, and for the past ten years, the alligator population has increased to where it has become a nuisance.  Large alligators sometimes show up on city streets near waterways and become a traffic hazard until someone stops or calls someone to handle it.

"►Population data: In 1971 the Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the alligator’s status and requested information from range states. Louisiana supplied data showing the species was not imperiled, and recommended the alligator be removed from the federal list of endangered species. Louisiana also provided the FWS with information on state conservation legislation that had been passed or was planned. Florida also had data, available to the FWS, showing the state had a large and healthy alligator population. Data released in the aftermath of the ESA’s passage provided more confirmation. In 1974, Louisiana estimated the alligator’s total population at 734,384 and increasing over most of its range. This estimate was the result of a 1973 survey, released in 1974, in what became known as “the Joanen Report” after its author, Ted Joanen."

The Great Gator Hoax: The American alligator is thriving—no thanks to the Endangered Species Act