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ALLIGATOR<br />
HUNTING<br />
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />
New<br />
Traditions,<br />
Trophies, &<br />
Memories<br />
Ricky Flynt<br />
The American alligator is a true North American wildlife conservation success story.<br />
As the United States entered the early 1900s, alligators were heavily hunted across the<br />
Southeast for their valuable hides. There were no laws or regulations to sustainably manage<br />
America’s wildlife in that era, and alligators were no exception.<br />
By the 1950s, alligators had become a rare sight across its range, prompting the<br />
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to protect the species under the Endangered<br />
Species Act in 1967. For the next 20 years, state and federal wildlife agencies<br />
enforced laws to reduce poaching and simultaneously began restoration efforts.<br />
In the early 1970s, over 3,000 alligators were donated by Louisiana to be<br />
relocated to suitable habitats in Mississippi.<br />
Restoration efforts were successful. In 1987, the<br />
American alligator was taken off the endangered<br />
species list.<br />
MISSISSIPPI Woods&Water 7
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