• Educate. Respect. Coexist.

  • Educate. Respect. Coexist.

    Welcome to GatorWise

    Our goal is to promote realistic public perceptions about alligators and assist the public in taking appropriate actions to minimize conflict.

    Alligators are native to many wetlands of the southeastern United States, making them critical to the health and balance of these ecosystems.

    Minimizing conflicts with people while maintaining necessary protections from overharvest is crucial to keeping alligator populations stable within their range.

    To do that we must Educate people about alligators, while increasing Respect for these animals and their natural behaviors, which will allow for alligators and humans to Coexist.

    GATORWISE BASICS

    ASSUME
    alligators are present.

    Never Feed
    alligators.

    DON’T DISPOSE
    of fish or food scraps in water.

    NEVER HARASS
    capture, or handle an alligator.

    BE RESPONSIBLE
    for people and pets in your care.

    MAINTAIN AWARENESS
    anytime you are in or near water.

    WHERE DO ALLIGATORS LIVE?

    Alligators live in the Southeast US. Most people think alligators only live in Florida and Louisiana, but they live along the coast from North Carolina to Texas, up the Mississippi River Valley into Arkansas, extreme southeast Oklahoma, and southwest Tennessee. Alligators can be found in any water body within their range. Alligator range in each state depends on the elevation and habitat in the state, so to find out where alligators live in each state, click on the map and visit the state agency’s website.

    ALLIGATORS history

    Alligators were hunted to near extinction during the early 20th century for their hides and meat. Beginning in the 1960s, stricter regulations were put in place to protect alligator populations.


    By the 1980s, populations rebounded, and alligators were no longer endangered. Instead, they are federally, and state managed, allowing for a combination of sustainable harvest strategies in states where they are most abundant while maintaining necessary protection to prevent overharvest.

    PARTNERS

    We are an organization with members representing the state fish and wildlife agencies of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.