SRAC Publication No. 230

SouthernRegionalAquacultureCenter

May 1993

Alligator ProductionAn Introduction

Michael P. Masser*

agricultural business in the DeepSouth. Holding of alligators incaptivity for breeding purposeswas not a new idea. Historically,the first commercial alligator farmwas started in Florida in the 1890s.

Production of alligators in a con-trolled indoor environment isnew, however. Advances in envi-ronmentally controlled productionmethods during the 1980s im-proved survival rates, allowed sexdetermination, and produced mar-ket size alligators (4 feet long) inless than two years. These ad-vances, together with the highprices paid for alligator hides, ledto rapid expansion of the industryin the 1980s. A surplus of hidescoupled with falling hide prices inthe early 1990s led to a decline inthe number of producers and anuncertain future.

* Extension Fisheries Specialist, AuburnUniversity, Alabama

It is legal to practice alligator farm-ing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.Louisiana leads the nation with122 licensed alligator farms, fol-lowed by Florida with 42, Texaswith 40, Georgia with 7, Missis-sippi with 5, and Alabama with 2(1993). Regulation and permittingof alligator farms is under the juris-diction of the state agency/author-ity (i.e., Conservation and NaturalResources, Game and Fish, Parksand Wildlife, etc.). Most state lawsrequire an annual fee and a hidetag or a severance tax to farm alli-gators. To get specific informationon the legal restrictions of alligatorfarming, check with your local Ex-tension office or state game andfish department.

Historical perspectiveThe American alligator (Alligatormississippiensis) is a member of theorder Crocodilia. This order in-cludes alligators, crocodiles and

caimans. The Americanalligator was native tocoastal plain and low landriver bottoms from North

Carolina to Mexico. The Americanalligator can grow to 16 feet ormore in length. The only otherspecies of alligator is found inChina (A. sinensis) and is endan-gered. Crocodiles inhabit tropicalareas around the world. There are15 species of crocodiles, some ofwhich can grow to 23 feet inlength. There are four species ofcaimans that can be found only inCentral and South America. Adultcaimans are smaller than adult alli-gators or crocodiles, seldom attain-ing 6 feet in length. Hides of all ofthese species have been used com-mercially and have approximatelythe same value based on lengthand grade. Commercial exploita-tion has reduced wild populationsof crocodilians throughout theworld, and many have reachedthreatened or endangered status.Crocodile or caiman farming alsois being attempted on 597 farms in47 countries around the globe. Thetotal worldwide population ofcrocodilians on farms is approxi-mately 1,100,000.

American alligators were huntedfor their hides beginning in thenineteenth century. By the turn ofthe century the annual alligator

harvest in the U.S. was around150,000 per year. Over-harvestingfrom the wild combined with habi-tat destruction slowly depleted thenative population. The alligatorpopulation had severely declinedby the 1950s and most states pro-hibited hunting by the 1960s.Under the 1973 Endangered Spe-cies Act the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService placed alligators underendangered or threatened spe-cies status throughout most oftheir range to protect them fromfurther exploitation.

Once protected, alligator popula-tions recovered. Recovery wasdramatic in some areas, particu-

have experienced alligator popula-tion increases after federal protec-tion.

In 1983, the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService changed the classificationof the American alligator underthe Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (CITES) towhat is called threatened for rea-sons of similarity in appearance.This classification means that theAmerican alligator is not threat-ened or endangered in its nativeU.S. range, but the sale of its pro-ducts (hide, meat, etc.) must bestrictly regulated (tags, markingsand documentation) so that simi-

Limited harvesting from the wildis permitted in Louisiana, Texasand Florida. Table 1 gives harvestrecords from 1986 through 1991for both farmed and wild har-vested American alligators.

It is noteworthy that in 1991,125,357 harvested alligators or 77.8percent of the total harvest camefrom farms.

Ecology and life historyAlligators inhabit fresh to slightlybrackish aquatic habitats. Thesehabitats include marshes, swamps,creeks, rivers, lakes and ponds.Males grow larger than females, al-

larly in Louisiana, which had pro- lar crocodilian species that are though growth rate is similar uphibited legal harvest since 1962. threatened/ endangered in other to approximately 3 1/2 feet inLouisiana reopened limited har- parts of the world, are not sold length. Sexual maturity of femalesvesting of wild alligators based on illegally as American alligators. In in the wild is usually reached at asustainable yield in 1972. The Lou- other words, this classification length of 6 1/2 feet and an age of 9isiana population continued to helps to protect other crocodilians to 10 years in Louisiana. Sexualincrease even with limited harvest- around the world from illegal ex- maturitv is not reached until 18 toing and was estimated by 1984 to ploitation. 19 years in North Carolina (still 6be-only slightly less than levels re- Today, nuisance control is allowed 1/2 feet in length). The alligator,corded at the turn of the century. like all reptiles, is a cold-bloodedMost other southern states also in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mis-sissippi, South Carolina and Texas. animal, and the difference in age

Table 1. Alligator harvest in the United States 1986-1991 (USF&WS).1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991

Louisianawild 17,000 20,000 23,000 24,846 25,575 24,500farmed 3,000 2,500 27,500 62,000 88,500 105,000

Floridawild 4,000 4,653 7,444 8,000 8,108 8,436farmed 3,921 6,479 7,529 16,385 20,007 18,797

Texaswild 952 1,396 1,647 1,830 2,035 1,820farmed 20 348 700

South Carolinanuisance 361 272 247 271

Mississippinuisance 100 100 100farmed 160

Alabamanuisance 125

Georgianuisance 344 578 489farmed 80 700

TOTAL 28,873 35,028 67,481 113,797 145,578 161,098

to reach maturity is related totemperature-dependent growth.Optimum growth occurs at tem-peratures between 85 and 91F.No apparent growth takes placebelow 70F, while temperaturesabove 93F cause severe metabolicstress and can cause death.

Alligators eat almost anything. Re-search shows that young alligatorsprimarily consume invertebrateslike crayfish and insects. As theygrow, fish are included in theirdiet. For adult alligators, mam-mals such as muskrats and nutriabecome more important in thediet. Larger alligators even con-sume birds and other reptiles (in-cluding smaller alligators).Carrion is consumed wheneveravailable. In general, the alliga-tors natural diet is very high inprotein and low in fat.

Alligator courtship and breedingcorrelates with air temperatureand can occur between April andJuly depending on weather condi-tions. Courtship and breedingoccur in deep (at least 6 feet), openwater. Courtship behavior in-cludes vigorous swimming andbellowing activity. Both malesand females bellow, but the malebellow is much more bass andvocal than that of the female. Analligator bellows with its mouthpartially open, its head held at a30- to 40-degree angle to the sur-face of the water, and its body sub-merged except for its tail which isarched above the water. Mostcourtship occurs just after sunriseand takes about 45 minutes fromprecopulatory behavior throughfirst copulation. Repeated copula-tion is commonly observed.

After courtship and mating, fe-males select and move to isolatedponds surrounded by dense vege-tation for nesting. Nesting occursabout two or three weeks aftermating, usually June through July,depending on temperature. Nestbuilding and egg laying occur at

Baby alligators raised in indoor pool at an alligator farm.

night. Females build nests by rak-ing surrounding vegetation andsoil into a mound. A female maystart several nests before a singlenest is successfully completed.Twenty to 60 eggs are laid fromthe top into the center of themound. All eggs are deposited atone time. When egg laying is com-pleted the female covers the nestwith about one foot of vegetationand remains nearby to guard nestfrom would-be predators.. In anygiven year nesting activity usuallyoccurs within a two-week period.Nesting occurs only once a yearand not all females nest every year.

Warm summertime temperaturescombined with heat generatedfrom decaying mound vegetationmaintain temperatures between 75and 91F and relative humiditiesof 94 to 99 percent in the nest. Theeggs hatch in 65 days if tempera-ture in the nest is consistentlyabove 86F. The young makegrunting or peeping sounds afterhatching and the female oftenclaws open the nest to help releasethem. Hatching success is gener-ally less than 60 percent. Researchdone in Louisiana suggests thatsurvival of young alligators to four

feet long averages 17 percent orless. After an alligator reaches 4feet in length it has few enemiesother than larger alligators andman. Growth rates in the wildvary considerably, with tempera-ture and food availability as themost influential factors.

Females do not move or migrateover long distances once they havereached breeding age and preferheavily vegetated marsh-type habi-tat. Males move around exten-sively but prefer to establishterritories in areas of open water.Males longer than 9 feet are themost successful breeders probablybecause of little understood behav-iors related to social dominance.

This fact sheet has presented basicbackground information on alliga-tor natural history and ecology.For additional information on theculture or farming of alligators, re-quest SRAC Publication No. 231,Alligator Production: Breeding andEgg Incubation, SRAC PublicationNo. 232, Alligator Production: Grow-out and Harvest and SRAC Publica-tion No. 233, Alligator Production:Economics and Marketing.

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The work reported in this publication was supported in part by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center through Grant No. 89-38500-4516 from the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture.