Alligators

[dfregoe]

How many alligators are in the park? And how many encounters are there in the average year between humans and alligators?

Greg,
Mrs. Fregoe's Class
Massena, NY

[Ranger_Larry]

Alligators have only two natural predators in Everglades: people and BIGGER alligators! Because we are one of the alligator's only natural enemies, human / gator encounters happen far less often than you might think. Wild alligators remain fearful of the human form and will usually try to flee if someone approaches.

There are no reliable figures for the number of alligators in the Everglades, but its safe to say we've got LOTS. Still, they remain protected under Federal law due to a "similarity of appearance to a threatened taxa." In other words, alligators remain protected because they look an awful lot like another threatened speices-- the American crocodile!

Thanks for asking!