(photo courtesy of Louisiana Office of Tourism)
While commercial alligator hunting has been legal in Louisiana for quite some time, recreational alligator hunting is now legal for the first time, now that Governor Landry has signed Senate Bill 244 into law. The bill’s author is Franklin Senator Robert Allain, who notes that Louisiana’s alligator population has now topped 3 million, and there aren’t enough commercial alligator hunters to get it under control.
“We did such a great job with rehabbing this population; we did too good of a job. And before it gets out of control, I thought this was a great way to not only give citizens a recreational opportunity, but also, we’re going to collect data along the way,” Allain explained.
Allain says that the growing alligator population has led to alligators appearing in places they’re not supposed to be in, including neighborhoods.
“As the population grows, their geographical footprint is also growing. So, people that have never come in contact before, that don’t fully understand the dangers or the speed of an alligator, are now going to be coming in contact with them,” Allain said.
People may be surprised to learn that alligators can run as fast as 15 miles an hour.
Allain says recreational alligator hunting tags will be awarded through a lottery system.
“There’s 10,000 tags, and there will be 5,000 lotteries pulled, so each hunter that’s pulled out of the 5,000 will get two tags,” Allain noted.
The recreational alligator hunting season period will be announced at a later date.
The recreational alligator hunting season will be announced at a later day. There’s already a commercial alligator hunting season and the reality TV show “Swamp People” helped grow interest in alligator hunting.
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