Written by Maria Tursi, International Affairs
Few species can claim the success that the American Alligator has achieved in the past half century. In fact, its recovery is considered one of the greatest endangered species success stories in the world. A recovery owed in large part to creative partnerships between the Federal government, Tribes, states, and private landowners.
A century of overhunting combined with habitat loss and pesticide pollution brought the “gator” dangerously close to extinction. In 1938, Alabama banned gator hunting due to plummeting alligator numbers. By the early 1960s, seeing an American alligator in the wild had become a rarity. In 1962, additional home states of the alligator leapt to action and enacted hunting bans. In 1967, the species received its first Federal protection from the Endangered Species Preservation Act, a precursor to the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA).
In 1973, the ESA prohibited all alligator hunting and stopped commercial trading of any American alligator product. By 1979, the population had rebounded significantly to support limited commercial trade, and American alligators were included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to ensure any international trade in American alligator products would be biologically sustainable, legal, and traceable.
Today there are nearly 5 million American alligators in the southeastern United States, with 1.25 million in Florida alone. Not only has the species recovered, but it also supports a thriving, well-regulated market. Countries that participate in CITES use a universal tagging system to identify and track crocodilian skins in global trade. Every crocodilian skin, including the American alligator, must have a self-locking, tamper-resistant tag attached. Tags show the species’ name, year, state and country of harvest. Skins without a CITES tag cannot be exported from the United States or any country, and tanning companies will often not work with skins that do not have tags.
Luxury brands use alligator leather for high-end boots, belts, and other luxury goods. The American alligator leather industry is valued between $250 million to $300 million annually. Due to the demand for premium footwear, belts, and luxury handbags, the industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 11 percent by 2034. Just the skins from Louisiana’s approximately 400,000 farmed alligators were valued at over $56 million in 2024. One of the reasons alligator leather commands such a premium price is because its strict, sustainable harvesting makes it more exclusive than other crocodile species.
Commercial alligator harvests help conserve the species by giving landowners financial incentives to maintain and even restore wetlands. Landowners benefit by selling alligator eggs from their private lands to alligator farms, depending on state policy. License fees for both alligator hunting and farming fund research, monitoring, and wildlife management programs that protect alligators. Together, these activities help support the conservation of numerous other plant and animal species that rely on wetland habitats. In addition, wetlands directly benefit nearby communities, by providing income opportunities, mitigating the impacts of severe weather events, preventing flooding, and filtering pollutants from runoff and wastewater.
The survival of this species which gives us so much relies on the continued efforts of state wildlife agencies, Tribes, businesses, international organizations, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
