Compare And Contrast Essay On Alligators

Alligators and Red Wolves Comparison Two species have gained the attention of North Carolina residents over time and each were on the brink of extinction. To preserve these species, they were placed under the Endangered Species Act and management plans on the two species were set in place. Plans, ideas, and outcomes of both these species has been drastically different and still a controversial topic today on how to continue managing their future. For seven million years American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) have been inhabiting North American wetlands (NCAMP). These large lizards can live up to fifty years in the wild and males can reach sizes up to fourteen feet in length (NCAMP). These alligators are known for digging around with their snouts, legs, and tail to create their own “gator holes”, or their own personal wetlands, they have been considered a keystone species as it provides habitat to other aquatic species (NCAMP). They can feed on animals as small as snails and animals as large as a goat if given the correct opportunity (NCAMP). The alligator plays an important part in its ecosystems not just because it is a keystone species but because it is an apex predator and has a mutualistic relationship with long-legged wading birds. They regulate mesopredators, such as blue crabs, and deter nest predators for the birds that nest above

Due to the lack of regulations the species declined quickly and were placed in the first compiled list of endangered species, the Endangered Species Preservation Act, in 1967 which prevented them from being hunter or harmed. The most important piece of legislation that may be credited for their recovery was amended in 1969, the Lacey Act, which banned interstate commerce. Then in 1975 international export of the skins were banned. There has not been a legal hunting of an alligator since 1973