The American Alligator is native across the southeastern US, inhabiting freshwater marshes and swamps. These massive reptiles were hunted to dangerously low levels through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fed in part by fashionable leather goods made from their hides. In the early 19th century, tourism to Florida and Louisiana increased the popularity of alligator farms and indigenous alligator wrestling. A ban on alligator hunting by the federal government went into effect in 1962, followed by an official ‘endangered’ listing 1967. Through the 70s conservation and management efforts saw the species bounce back, with a complete delisting from the endangered species list in 1987. The American Alligator is widely regarded as a conservation success story. In 1970, the Louisiana alligator population was estimated to be around 170,000, by the early 90s it was over a million. However, this comeback isn’t without its current hurdles. Today, climate change threatens alligator populations in the American South as sea levels rise, destroying native wetlands and marshes where the species resides. Inland waters have become saltier, making it harder for alligators to inhabit coastal wetlands. Rising global temperatures also threaten alligator populations. Alligators have a pattern of producing females at extreme temperatures and males at intermediate temperatures, as the temperatures rise, they face a reproductive ratio that could harm the sustainability of the species. The American Alligator is a species deeply ingrained in the landscape and culture of the Southeast, one that has bounced back from near extinction after consolidated conservation efforts.
