American Alligator

Alligator mississippiensis

The American alligator is the largest reptile in North America. It has a large, dark (usually black), slightly rounded body and thick limbs. Unlike the crocodile, the alligator has a broad head. The alligator uses its powerful tail to propel itself through water. The tail accounts for half the alligator's length. While alligators move very quickly in water, they are generally slow-moving on land. They can, however, move quickly for short distances.

Length Up to 18 feet; females are smaller
Weight 450-600 lbs; females are smaller
Lifespan 35-50 years in the wild; 60-80 years in captivity

Diet

Fish, turtles, various mammals, birds and other reptiles

Population

An estimated 5 million American alligators are spread out across the southeastern United States. Roughly 1.25 million alligators live in the state of Florida.

Range

American alligators occur in Florida, southern Texas, Louisiana and parts of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The majority of American alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana. However, the alligator’s range appears to have been increasing northward in the last few years. The United States is the only nation on earth where both alligators and crocodiles live together.

Behavior

Alligators live in freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshes, wetlands, rivers, and swamps, as well as brackish environments.

Large male alligators are solitary, territorial animals. The largest males and females will defend prime territory. Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers in close proximity to each other, because smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class.

During breeding season, the female builds a nest of vegetation, sticks, leaves, and mud in a sheltered spot in or near the water.

Mating Season Mid-April through May
Gestation 60-65 day egg incubation
Clutch size 20-50 eggs
Eggs generally hatch in mid-August. Sex is fully determined at the time of hatching and irreversible thereafter, and depends on the temperature of egg incubation, temperatures of 86°F producing females, of 93°F yielding only males

Threats

Once hunted for their hides, alligators today are threatened mainly by habitat loss and encounters with people. They are hunted for their skin (for leather goods) and for their meat. Before hunting was controlled in 1970, an estimated 10 million alligators were killed for their skins.

Legal Status/Protection

First listed as an endangered species in 1967, the American alligator was removed from the endangered species list in 1987 when the Fish and Wildlife Service pronounced the American alligator fully recovered. They are classified as a threatened species under the *Endangered Species Act because of their similarity in appearance to the American crocodile, an endangered species. **CITES Appendix II

* The Endangered Species Act requires the U.S. federal government to identify species threatened with extinction, identify habitat they need to survive, and help protect both. In doing so, the Act works to ensure the basic health of our natural ecosystems and protect the legacy of conservation we leave to our children and grandchildren.

**Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international treaty with more than 144 member countries. Appendix I listed species cannot be traded commercially. Appendix II listed species can be traded commercially only if it does not harm their survival.

How You Can Help

Help Alligators and other wildlife by adopting an animal at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.