Creature feature - American alligators
American alligators once faced extinction. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service placed them on the endangered species list in 1967. Fortunately, the legal protection worked. Just 20 years later, American alligators were taken off the list!
Brought back from the brink of extinction, over a million of these reptiles survive today. Now the main threat to alligators is habitat destruction, caused by such human activities as draining and developing wetlands.
American alligators live in the wild in the southeastern United States. You're most likely to spot them in Florida and Louisiana, where they live in rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, bayous, and marshes. These reptiles are kind of clumsy on land, but they're built for life in the water, with webbed feet and strong tails that propel them through the water.
An average male American alligator is three to five meters long. Half of its length is its massive, strong tail. An alligator can weigh as much as half a ton, but an average male weighs between 227 to 272 kilograms.
A mother alligator makes a nest on shore, where she lays her eggs. Newly hatched young are only about 15 to 20 centimeters long, and very vulnerable. They have to protect themselves from predators which include raccoons, bobcats, birds, and even other alligators. Yikes!
FAST FACTS
- Alligators are members of an order of animals called crocodilians. Crocodilians include alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and gharials.
- Alligators are reptiles, a group of animals that includes snakes, lizards, and turtles.
- The scientific name of the American alligator is Alligator mississippiensis.
- In the wild, an American alligator generally lives to be 35 to 50 years old. Alligators can live longer—for 60 to 80 years—in captivity.
- A group of alligators is called a congregation.
- Fish, turtles, snakes, and small mammals (sometimes even pets) are all on an alligator's favorite menu. They'll eat just about any meat—including animals that are already dead. Eww!
- A quick way to tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile is to look at them when their mouths are closed. If only the upper teeth show, it's an alligator. If both upper and lower teeth show, it's a crocodile.
Check out our other cool features:
- WIN! a trip to India with the International Photography Competition 2011!
- WATCH! Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules videos and interview!
- Creature feature - great white sharks!
- WATCH! Kung Fu Panda videos and interview!
- Sir David Attenborough interview!
- Creature feature - Tyrannosaurus Rex
