Alligator Hunting Season in Alabama

An Open Letter from M. Barnett Lawley, Commissioner
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Restoration of the American alligator is a national conservation success story in which Alabama played a lead role.  Unregulated alligator harvest throughout the South in the 1920s, 30s and 40s threatened the species with extinction.  In 1938, Alabama took action and became the first state to protect them.  Other states followed our lead and, in 1967, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service placed the American alligator on the Endangered Species List.  Two decades of protection enabled the species to rebound.  By 1987, it was removed from the Endangered Species List but retained as a federally protected species.

Alabama's alligator population has grown to the extent that they pose a nuisance in many areas.  Implementing a regulated alligator hunt on a small scale is an important step toward controlling populations and better managing this unique reptile.

Alabama residents will be able to register online for the random drawing.   Visit www.outdooralabama.com for details.

We look forward to successful hunts.

Sincerely,

M. Barnett Lawley
Commissioner

Press Release