Daily Weird News Report
Louisiana is preparing to reopen alligator hunting to the public more than five decades after recreational hunting was banned, offering up to 5,000 people the chance to trap the reptiles during a month-long season beginning October 1.
The hunt will take place across eight zones statewide. Participants must enter a state lottery for permits, with each person eligible to receive as many as two tags. Applicants will pay a $50 application fee, while successful hunters must pay $25 for each zone as Louisiana residents or $150 as visitors.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries requires participants to hold a basic hunting license. The hunt is limited to hook-and-line trapping. Firearms may be used only to kill an alligator after it has been captured, not to shoot animals swimming freely.
The program is strictly recreational and non-commercial. Anyone who catches an alligator will be prohibited from selling its meat or hide.
According to reporting by The Guardian, Louisiana’s fish and wildlife commission prohibited alligator hunting in 1962 after years of unregulated killing reduced the state’s population to fewer than 100,000 animals. The ban was lifted after 10 years, but hunting remained limited to closely regulated commercial operations.
The state now estimates that more than 3 million alligators live in the wild. Wildlife officials said the population has recovered enough to support a sustainable recreational harvest without harming the commercial industry, which the department says contributes more than $250 million annually to Louisiana’s economy.
The upcoming season will therefore mark a change in who can legally pursue the animals: commercial harvesters have operated under regulation for decades, while members of the public have not previously been allowed to hunt alligators for sport.
Louisiana’s plan follows Florida, which introduced a similarly regulated statewide recreational alligator-hunting program in 1988 after conservation efforts helped its population recover.
