Kill a gator, save a gator may sound counter-intuitive, but sustainable use has taken the alligator population in Louisiana from less than one hundred thousand to over one and a half million in the past thirty years. The wild hunting season starts the first Wednesday in September, when the mother alligators are watching over their young in the shallows of the marsh. Wild hunts take place in the open waterways where the males and non-breeding females swim. Hunting these behemoth reptiles is an awesome experience. A hunt starts with a wild boat ride through Louisianas remote marshlands. The scenery is breathtaking, wildlife is abundant, and the big game hunt is thrilling.
Alligators are baited on large cane poles. Rotting chicken quarters are hung on ten foot poles. The alligators feed during the night; jumping out of the water to catch the chicken hung a foot or two above the surface. The higher the bait is set, the larger the catch will be.
The hunt begins at daybreak and is a large part of Louisianas cultural history. Alligator hunting is a family affair. Children accompany their fathers and grandfathers on the weekend hunts. Each cane pole is approached with some trepidation. If the chicken is missing, the tussle with the alligator will soon follow. These hefty creatures do not give up the fight easily, and a thrashing five hundred pound alligator threatens the stability of the watercraft. The hunter heaves the line until the alligator emerges to the surface. The alligator is then dispatched with one clean shot to the brain, rolled into the boat and tagged.
The Louisiana season is highly regulated. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries conducts a nest survey each year to determine alligator nest densities in various regions. Nest densities, which provide an index of alligator populations, are charted according to habitat type, latitude and longitude. Alligator tags are issued to landowners based on current alligator population. These tags must be attached to hunted reptiles before they are removed from the boats and loaded onto trucks.
A controlled wild harvest has been carried out since 1972. This harvest created a strong economic incentive for landowners to maintain or enhance wetland habitat.
Wetlands provide many important environmental benefits, such as a buffer from hurricanes and a home to migratory birds. Louisiana is losing thirty square miles of wetland habitat a year. There is much concern about preserving wetlands.
Eighty percent of Louisianas wetlands are privately owned and the environmental benefits they provide generally don't give the landowners the financial incentives needed to encourage wetlands preservation.
Traditionally, the owners of wetlands have made money by hunting leases and tourist activities. These are not big money makers, which puts wetlands in jeopardy of being converted to other land uses.
The state economic impact from both consumptive (i.e. meat and hides) and non-consumptive (i.e. swamp tours) alligator use is estimated at fifty-four million per year. About $60,000 of this is related to sport hunting and the tourist industry.
"There are around three and a half million acres (one and a half million hectares) of coastal wetlands in Louisiana that qualify as alligator habitat," said Noel Kinler, a biologist with the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "Nearly seventy-five percent of that habitat is owned by private landowners, and with a few small exceptions, virtually every piece of land that qualifies is enrolled in the (alligator) program."
The alligator program, Kinler said, "is absolutely essential to maintaining critical habitat in the state."
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