Current News

/

ArcaMax

Are trophy hunters killing too many of SC's giant gators? Wildlife agency concerned

Sammy Fretwell, The State (Columbia, S.C.) on

Published in News & Features

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- As interest in hunting alligators rises, state wildlife officials are concerned that too many of the largest gators in South Carolina are being killed by sportsmen seeking to land big animals for their trophy collections.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources says alligator hunters have become more sophisticated at stalking the popular reptiles, using air boats, sonar devices and other equipment that makes it easier to find the largest gators.

That, they suspect, is taking a toll on the numbers of huge gators, generally considered to be 10 feet or longer.

“We’ve got to be careful about how we impact these large animals,’’ DNR biologist Morgan Hart said. “We are already seeing a trend, a decline in the number of really large alligators that are being harvested.’’

The DNR thinks the reason harvest numbers for large gators are going down is because there are fewer huge reptiles to hunt. The success hunters have had at locating and killing massive gators in the past has created the apparent shortage, DNR officials say.

Hart, in a presentation to the agency’s board earlier this month, said it takes decades for alligators to grow into large animals. So it can be a long time before populations rebound from over-hunting, she said. Gators can live to be more than 60 years old.

“If we’re not careful, we’re not conservative, we may lose them to a point that it would be very hard for them to recover from,’’ she said.

Through the years, hunters have landed some massive gators in South Carolina. Among them was a Massachusetts woman who, at Lake Moultrie in 2010, killed a 13.5 foot gator that weighed 1,025 pounds. She and her husband fought the alligator for more than two hours, according to news reports.

In 2022, one Lowcountry business that processes alligators for meat and hides reported working on a gator that was 13 feet long. The 625-pound reptile was killed in Lake Marion.

Alligators are today a well-known part of the southern landscape, extending from east Texas through the Deep South to the Virginia border. The gator is the largest reptile in North America and the species’ health often indicates whether the swamps, marshes and rivers they live in are healthy and pollution free.

As a result of habitat loss and hunting, gators were listed as a government protected endangered species from 1973-1987, according to the DNR. Protection efforts helped rebuild alligator populations to sustainable levels throughout the region.

South Carolina has an estimated 100,000 alligators that live from the Columbia area to the coast. The number of alligators is enough to justify a public hunting season in parts of September and October, state officials say. But while the overall population has remained stable, the agency says big gators are in potential jeopardy.

The number of alligators harvested that exceed 10 feet long is generally down since South Carolina began allowing public gator hunts sixteen years ago, DNR statistics show. In 2009, hunters killed about 70 alligators that were 10 feet long, with the number rising to nearly 80 by 2011.

 

But in 2023, the latest year of which statistics were available, hunters harvested fewer than 50 alligators that were 10 feet long. That number was up slightly from 2022, but the overall trend remains down. Similar trends have been tracked for gators exceeding 10 feet in length, DNR data show.

At the same time, the number of people applying to participate in public alligator hunts has risen from 4,000 to nearly 12,000 since 2016, according to data Hart presented at the Jan. 16 DNR board meeting. People seeking to hunt alligators in South Carolina are chosen through a lottery system, meaning only a select few gain approval. About 1,000 people are selected to hunt alligators each year.

Overall, 30 percent of the 380 alligators harvested in 2023 during public hunts were 10 feet or larger, DNR data show. The average-sized alligator killed ranged from 9.6 feet in the Columbia-Sumter area to eight feet in the Pee Dee region of eastern South Carolina.

It’s important for the state to have large alligators for multiple reasons. Among them: the biggest reptiles create habitat for an array of species when they dig out “gator holes’’ near stream banks. Those holes, which are like ponds, provide water other animals need during times of drought.

And large alligators prey on many species, including smaller gators – a fact that helps keep the state from having an overabundance of alligators, said Jay Butfiloski, a wildlife biologist at the DNR who tracks the issue.

Despite the ferocious reputation of alligators — some have killed people who ventured too close to ponds — state officials say it’s vital to maintain the largest reptiles because they are a part of nature.

“Just because they scare us is not a reason we should exterminate them,’’ said Butfiloski, a DNR wildlife biologist who coordinates the agency’s alligator and fur-bearing animal programs. “They serve an important niche in the whole scheme of things.’’

Brad Taylor, a former DNR official who now guides hunts for alligators, said many outdoors people want to harvest gators, regardless of the size. But some are more interested in the big ones. Taylor takes about 30 hunting parties out each year for gators. People from New Mexico to Michigan are among those he’s taken alligator hunting. The DNR says people from almost every state have participated in South Carolina alligator hunts.

“For many people, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to catch a 13-foot alligator,’’ Hart said. “It’s an adrenaline-pumping, very exciting thing to do.’’

Taylor said he understands the DNR’s concerns and supports an agency plan that will protect the biggest gators from over-hunting, while increasing the number of people allowed to hunt smaller alligators.

The DNR plans to increase by about 400 the number of tags it issues for hunters to label gators they kill. But the extra 400 tags will be only for gators no longer than 8 feet. While the state does not plan to reduce the harvest of large gators, it also will not include larger gators in the effort to increase hunting overall. The new rules are expected to go into effect this fall.

Hunters “will be supportive because what the DNR is proposing is additional opportunities,’’ Taylor said.


©2025 The State. Visit at thestate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments