State expanding gator hunts
By VIRGINIA SMITH
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- The American alligator is Florida's comeback kid.
Decimated by hunting over the course of a century, the alligator was thought to be facing extinction when it made the federal endangered species list in 1967, and hunting was banned.
Twenty years later, the alligator had made such an impressive return in swamps, lakes and rivers that it was removed from the federal list. The state, in 1987, allowed alligators to be hunted for meat and hides again -- in a monitored, carefully controlled way.
Now the state's taking off the gloves.
Early this month the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission approved several rule changes aimed at maxing out legal harvests without causing alligator populations to crash.
"We're loosening up the reins a bit," said Harry Dutton, head of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's alligator management section. "The whole philosophy toward alligator management has been changing."
That philosophy has gotten considerably more aggressive.
Starting this year, the statewide public hunt will be doubled to 10 weeks, and hunters are no longer limited to two alligators -- they can purchase extra tags throughout the season.
State wildlife officials say gator season ends with too many unused permits. By letting individuals obtain more, the state is inviting professional hunters to get in on the game.
"We were moving toward making it more of a recreational opportunity than a commercial one," said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the commission in Ocala. "Now there really aren't any shortages of alligators -- we're well past the endangered species time, so we're ready to expand."
On private wetlands, where alligators can be hunted year-round with a permit, the state has lifted constraints on the acreage and number of alligators needed to register a parcel for hunting.
The state has also written itself the authority to decide on a case-by-case basis how many adult gators can be killed (it used to be 15 percent of the adult population on the permitted land annually), and how many nests can be opened for eggs (it used to be half).
The point, Dutton said, is to flatten out the growth rate of the state's alligator population -- estimated very roughly at 1 million.
Social factors, not just biology, affect the state's alligator management philosophy. Last year one person was killed by an alligator in Florida; since 2000 it has been as high as three per year, and more often none.
"We have to accept the will of the commission, and the will of the constituents who see alligator populations as increasing," Dutton said.
That perception isn't entirely accurate. In two-thirds of the lakes and rivers the state monitors, alligator populations are increasing -- despite increased hunting and aggressive nuisance trapping. In one-third of the monitored areas, trends show no change or a decline.
So how many alligators are enough? It's a polarizing question, and not easily answered.
"I get a number of letters saying 'why are you protecting this evil animal? Why do we need a million alligators?"' Dutton said. "I get other letters saying 'why are you even killing these things? They belong in nature.' "
"The public sentiment that gators are overpopulated is based on the fact that in the last century, gators were hunted way, way down," said Julie Wraithmell, a policy specialist with Audubon of Florida. "Compared with that, they would appear overpopulated -- but you can't say they're approaching the level they were at prior to European settlement."
The state, for its part, thinks "enough" means approximately the population in 1987, the year they were de-listed.
Curtis Lucas, a longtime nuisance trapper based in Pierson, said that locally, populations do seem to be hovering at those levels.
"We don't take as many 12- or 13-foot alligators as we once did. There's a lot of pressure on the top, the very large alligators," said Lucas, who hunted 400 last year. "But things seem to be staying steady or increasing at the bottom end."
The average alligator killed in Florida is 7.5 feet long. And Lucas said he worries that expanded hunting could, some day, cull enough of them to cut into his full-time job.
"As far as the state goes, it's a good thing -- they really don't want any more (human) deaths. But as far as my business goes, not yet but at some point this could reduce my income and my business."
If the new strategy proves to be too much for alligators, Dutton said, the state can always change it. "The beauty of adaptive management is, if you push too far you can lighten back up."
Perran Ross, a University of Florida biologist who has worked with the state's alligator program, said he is confident the commission "will monitor this very carefully. If indeed there are drastic changes, this will be quickly reconsidered."
Alligators, after all, have a way of coming back.
[email protected]
GATOR HUNTS AT A GLANCE
The state of Florida licenses three types of alligator hunting: a statewide hunt on public waters, private wetlands hunts, and nuisance trapping. In recent decades the numbers have increased steadily, though the value of hides and meat fluctuates.
Year; total alligators harvested
1987; 4,869
1990; 7,672
1995; 11,947
2000; 11,802
2004; 13,164
SOURCE: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
GATOR RULES, OLD AND NEW
Early this month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved several rule changes to increase the harvest of wild alligators.
PRIVATE WETLANDS
· BEFORE: Private landowners needed 1,000 acres or evidence of at least 100 alligators on a property to register for a yearlong harvest permit. Only 15 percent of adult gators could be taken in a year.
· NOW: No parcel is too small to qualify. Landowners can hire a private consultant to estimate the number of alligators on a parcel, and the state will decide how many can be hunted -- even if it's just one. The 15 percent cap has been lifted: the new rule states that "the best biological information" will be used instead to determine how many gators can be killed.
PUBLIC HUNT
· BEFORE: During a five-week statewide period, regular folks could hunt a maximum of two alligators on designated public waters.
· NOW: The hunt lasts 10 weeks. Anyone who purchases a hunting license starts with two tags, but can purchase more throughout the season for $30 apiece.
GATOR EGGS
· BEFORE: Only half of the alligator nests on registered private lands could be opened up for egg collection. (Wild eggs are collected by alligator farmers, who raise the hatchlings for meat and hides.)
· NOW: The state will set more flexible quotas on the percentage of nests opened. The goal, according to the new rule, is "maximum sustained use of the alligator egg resource."
SOURCE: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
By VIRGINIA SMITH
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- The American alligator is Florida's comeback kid.
Decimated by hunting over the course of a century, the alligator was thought to be facing extinction when it made the federal endangered species list in 1967, and hunting was banned.
Twenty years later, the alligator had made such an impressive return in swamps, lakes and rivers that it was removed from the federal list. The state, in 1987, allowed alligators to be hunted for meat and hides again -- in a monitored, carefully controlled way.
Now the state's taking off the gloves.
Early this month the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission approved several rule changes aimed at maxing out legal harvests without causing alligator populations to crash.
"We're loosening up the reins a bit," said Harry Dutton, head of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's alligator management section. "The whole philosophy toward alligator management has been changing."
That philosophy has gotten considerably more aggressive.
Starting this year, the statewide public hunt will be doubled to 10 weeks, and hunters are no longer limited to two alligators -- they can purchase extra tags throughout the season.
State wildlife officials say gator season ends with too many unused permits. By letting individuals obtain more, the state is inviting professional hunters to get in on the game.
"We were moving toward making it more of a recreational opportunity than a commercial one," said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the commission in Ocala. "Now there really aren't any shortages of alligators -- we're well past the endangered species time, so we're ready to expand."
On private wetlands, where alligators can be hunted year-round with a permit, the state has lifted constraints on the acreage and number of alligators needed to register a parcel for hunting.
The state has also written itself the authority to decide on a case-by-case basis how many adult gators can be killed (it used to be 15 percent of the adult population on the permitted land annually), and how many nests can be opened for eggs (it used to be half).
The point, Dutton said, is to flatten out the growth rate of the state's alligator population -- estimated very roughly at 1 million.
Social factors, not just biology, affect the state's alligator management philosophy. Last year one person was killed by an alligator in Florida; since 2000 it has been as high as three per year, and more often none.
"We have to accept the will of the commission, and the will of the constituents who see alligator populations as increasing," Dutton said.
That perception isn't entirely accurate. In two-thirds of the lakes and rivers the state monitors, alligator populations are increasing -- despite increased hunting and aggressive nuisance trapping. In one-third of the monitored areas, trends show no change or a decline.
So how many alligators are enough? It's a polarizing question, and not easily answered.
"I get a number of letters saying 'why are you protecting this evil animal? Why do we need a million alligators?"' Dutton said. "I get other letters saying 'why are you even killing these things? They belong in nature.' "
"The public sentiment that gators are overpopulated is based on the fact that in the last century, gators were hunted way, way down," said Julie Wraithmell, a policy specialist with Audubon of Florida. "Compared with that, they would appear overpopulated -- but you can't say they're approaching the level they were at prior to European settlement."
The state, for its part, thinks "enough" means approximately the population in 1987, the year they were de-listed.
Curtis Lucas, a longtime nuisance trapper based in Pierson, said that locally, populations do seem to be hovering at those levels.
"We don't take as many 12- or 13-foot alligators as we once did. There's a lot of pressure on the top, the very large alligators," said Lucas, who hunted 400 last year. "But things seem to be staying steady or increasing at the bottom end."
The average alligator killed in Florida is 7.5 feet long. And Lucas said he worries that expanded hunting could, some day, cull enough of them to cut into his full-time job.
"As far as the state goes, it's a good thing -- they really don't want any more (human) deaths. But as far as my business goes, not yet but at some point this could reduce my income and my business."
If the new strategy proves to be too much for alligators, Dutton said, the state can always change it. "The beauty of adaptive management is, if you push too far you can lighten back up."
Perran Ross, a University of Florida biologist who has worked with the state's alligator program, said he is confident the commission "will monitor this very carefully. If indeed there are drastic changes, this will be quickly reconsidered."
Alligators, after all, have a way of coming back.
[email protected]
GATOR HUNTS AT A GLANCE
The state of Florida licenses three types of alligator hunting: a statewide hunt on public waters, private wetlands hunts, and nuisance trapping. In recent decades the numbers have increased steadily, though the value of hides and meat fluctuates.
Year; total alligators harvested
1987; 4,869
1990; 7,672
1995; 11,947
2000; 11,802
2004; 13,164
SOURCE: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
GATOR RULES, OLD AND NEW
Early this month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved several rule changes to increase the harvest of wild alligators.
PRIVATE WETLANDS
· BEFORE: Private landowners needed 1,000 acres or evidence of at least 100 alligators on a property to register for a yearlong harvest permit. Only 15 percent of adult gators could be taken in a year.
· NOW: No parcel is too small to qualify. Landowners can hire a private consultant to estimate the number of alligators on a parcel, and the state will decide how many can be hunted -- even if it's just one. The 15 percent cap has been lifted: the new rule states that "the best biological information" will be used instead to determine how many gators can be killed.
PUBLIC HUNT
· BEFORE: During a five-week statewide period, regular folks could hunt a maximum of two alligators on designated public waters.
· NOW: The hunt lasts 10 weeks. Anyone who purchases a hunting license starts with two tags, but can purchase more throughout the season for $30 apiece.
GATOR EGGS
· BEFORE: Only half of the alligator nests on registered private lands could be opened up for egg collection. (Wild eggs are collected by alligator farmers, who raise the hatchlings for meat and hides.)
· NOW: The state will set more flexible quotas on the percentage of nests opened. The goal, according to the new rule, is "maximum sustained use of the alligator egg resource."
SOURCE: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
