Alligators may lose protected status in Florida as residents' complaints mount

[Synnical]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cgatormar06,0,3403756.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 6 2007

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Thousands of Florida residents complained of nuisance alligators last year, and that's one reason the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering eliminating some of the rules that have protected the species for a generation.

The commission's biologists have considered ending the alligator's status as a species of special concern and reclassifying it as a game animal, like deer, hogs and turkeys. They have proposed allowing landowners to kill as many as they want, as well as vastly expanding the tightly controlled hunting program. The commission has begun a series of public hearings, with two scheduled March 14 and 15 in West Palm Beach.

"The animal is thriving in the state," said Harry Dutton, alligator management coordinator for the wildlife commission. "Does it warrant its current protected status or not? We have so many restrictions on how you should harvest the animal. Should we have an open season?"

Any changes are certain to be controversial, involving public safety, people's livelihoods and a creature that's a symbol of wild Florida. Outfitters who make a living guiding novice alligator hunters worry that looser controls would dry up their business and lead to some would-be hunters getting hurt. Environmentalists are concerned the state isn't giving sufficient consideration to the importance of alligators to wetlands and other wildlife. And suburban residents don't want to see gator eyes staring at them from backyard lakes, but many also recoil at the current state practice of allowing these animals to be killed by professional trappers.

Comments here: http://tinyurl.com/22c3jz

Related Poll - middle of the page: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/

I live in Florida and spitting with rage at this idea.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[MadMaddie]

1. If people choose to live by waters where they know Alligators live

they have no right to complain that Alligators are in the area. Backyard lakes....they should move somewhere else.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Are crocodiles thriving because more people see them

that wouldn't usually see them because they didn't live in their backyards?

I wonder what the numbers has been in the past to what they are now.

[freethought]

3. Crocodiles are fairly rare in the U.S.

They tend to get more common as you head into Central America. American alligators on the other hand
are becoming a problem. Years ago they were nearly driven to extinction, but with federal protection and time the population came back, and then some. The animals are being driven into places where they may not otherwise go. Private lakes, golf course ponds, drainage ditches, anywhere there is water and access to food witch can mean someone's dog.
Down in Florida, one of the mainstays of the economy is development and it's encroaching everywhere.
There were two fatal attacks not long ago on people.

This is a tough one. I had done a great deal of deer hunting myself and had never been opposed to a regulated hunt. My problem is how one goes about keeping a safe hunt in the suburban environs where these alligators are showing up.

My personal opinion is that the state will expand the regulated hunt. I don't think it's smart to grant every property owner the right to kill as many as they want. That's a sure recipe for someone to get killed.

It's just a fact of life that dealing with nuisance wildlife is never a high priority unless it threatens some economic sector. Years ago certain states spent millions upon millions to eradicate the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, but that was only because this little fly threatened billions in agricultural product. More than likely, the state will choose the most cost-effective method.

[Mojorabbit]

4. It pisses me off too

Too many people move down here from other places and freak out when they see one. One of my most favorite things is sitting on the dock in the evening in summer and watching the gator glide by.

[robcon]

5. We've gone from scarcity to abundance on alligators.

Within a couple of decades the alligator has returned in huge numbers, and should be returned to 'normal' not protected, status. They are obviously in conflict with the suburban lifestyle in Florida.

[Javaman]

6. Yes and as we destroy the earth with over building and pollution

it's high time to blame the Alligator for all our faults and problems.

Damn those gators for having the nerve to exist in the first place, I mean really, they eat people who live near swamps and glades, just what are they thinking?

After all we are the dominate species, aren't we? We have every natural right to take what we want and claim all that we see for the good of humanity and screw the animals. if they were so smart, they would have invented the 15,000 square foot beach mcmansion and ultra smog polluting SUV.

Top of the food chain!! Top of the food chain!! Take that mr. gator!!!

[robcon]

7. Who, exactly, is blaming the alligator "for our faults and problems."???,

All I'm saying is that the alligator no longer needs 'special' protections. His numbers are healthy, though his natural habitat is shrinking through suburbanization. As long as his numbers are healthy, he needs nothing "special."

The alligator, elephant or cockroach can can "take what wants and claim all that sees for the good of humanity or alligatordom or elephantdom or cockroachdom and screw the rest." That's perfectly "natural."

Humans, as you imply, are not in charge. Evolution is a not a directed process, by humans or any other species. It is directed by natural selection.

[Javaman]

8. "They are obviously in conflict with the suburban lifestyle in Florida."

Okay, I was being snarky. :)

But when you mean "they" did you mean the alligators?

And are you just making a comment in reflection to that the urbanites are inconvienced?

[robcon]

10. Both suburbanites and alligators are 'inconvenienced.

Both groups' habitats are in conflict.

[Javaman]

9. I think I got my answer. So I go back to my snarky remark. nt

[trumad]

12. As a Seminole fan you should appreciate the elimination of Gators...

As A Cane fan I ain't got no prob with it. ;-)

[NashVegas]

11. Cool. New Shoes

:evilgrin: