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95
GROWTH RATES AND BODY CONDITION FACTORS FOR ALLIGATORS
IN COASTAL LOUISIANA WETLANDS: A COMPARISON OF WILD AND
FARM-RELEASED JUVENILES
Ruth M. Elsey, Ted Joanen and l-arry McNease
Louisiaoa Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,
Route 1, Box 20-B
Grand Chenier, louisiana 70643
and
Noel Kinler
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Route 4, Box 78
New Iberia, Louisiana 70560
Gro*.th rates and body condition factors for native wild and captive-raised
juvenile alligators (Alligator mississippierJir) tbal had been released tothe wild were
studied usiDg tag-recapture methods for 274 alligators over a four-year period.
Alligators were grouped by sex, size class, source (farm-released vs. native wild), and
as to whettrer they had overwintered or not. In most groups, the farm-released
alligators grew significantly better than wild alligators matched for sex and size; in
the remaining groups the post-release alligators grew as well as their counterparts,
though not better. Overwintering tended to slow groMh rates in both groups, but
farm-released alligatoE still demotrstrated superior growth over native wild-alligators
even after overwintering Males tended to grow fast€r than females, though this
trend was not always significaqdy greater. In no matched group did femalis grow
faster than males. GroMh rates diminished with increasing size class in native wild
alligato$ (smaller alligators grew faster). but in farm-releaied alligators growth rates
remained accelerated even at the lalger size classes. Growth curves were
constructed usin€ ktown recapture data with three groMh models (von Bertlanf$,
Gompertz, and logistic); the calculated maximum atlaitrable length and growth
parameters were significantly larger (p