First-time Gator Harvest for SU Animal Science Assistant Professor over the Weekend
Photo Credit: LSU Ag Center
Southern University and A&M College animal science assistant professor Jodi Morton and LSU AgCenter social media strategist Anna Ribbeck harvested their first alligators this past weekend with the help of Swamp People’s Daniel Edgar.
The alligator hides will be tanned and the ladies will get to take home delicious alligator meat for consumption. Ribbeck says she will use some of the meat in an alligator sauce piquante for the LSU vs University of Florida football tailgate!
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) implemented an alligator management program in 1972 that has been recognized internationally as a wildlife conservation success story.
The goals of LDWF’s alligator management program are to manage and conserve Louisiana’s alligators as part of the state’s wetland ecosystem and provide benefits to the species, its habitat, and the other species of fish and wildlife associated with alligators. Management includes both wild harvest and alligator farming.
Licensed alligator farmers collect alligator eggs on private lands and incubate and hatch those eggs under ideal growing conditions. Those hatchlings are transferred to secure facilities and raised until they reach 3-5 feet in length.
Alligator farmers are required to return roughly 10% of their alligators to the wild to ensure a healthy and sustainable alligator population.
Since the inception of LDWF’s alligator management program in 1972, more than 1.1 million wild alligators have been harvested, more than 11 million alligator eggs have been collected, and roughly 7.3 million farm-raised alligators have been sold.
Consumptive (meats and hides) and non-consumptive (wildlife watching) use of the alligator resource in Louisiana brings hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue to the state each year. A portion of that revenue is invested in the management of wetland habitats across the state.
Learn more about LDWF's alligator management program: https://bit.ly/AlligatorManagement