Louisiana Approves New Recreational Alligator Hunt Allowing Up To 10,000 To Be Killed

Thousands of American alligators could be killed this October under a newly approved recreational hunting season in Louisiana, with the state authorizing up to 10,000 animals to be killed in just one month.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) will hold the hunt from October 1 through October 31, 2026, across eight hunting zones throughout the state. The new recreational season is separate from Louisiana’s cruel commercial killing of alligators.

Under the lottery program, 5,000 Louisiana residents will be selected to receive two alligator tags each, with every tag allowing one alligator to be killed. If all of the available tags are used, as many as 10,000 alligators could lose their lives during the month-long hunt.

The season follows the passage of Act 37, which authorized Louisiana to establish a separate recreational alligator hunt.

Alligators may be killed using hook-and-line or snatch-hook methods. Free shooting and pole hunting are prohibited. The bodies, hides, meat, and other parts of alligators killed under recreational tags cannot be sold or traded.

Subjecting wild animals to pain and distress simply for recreation is cruel and unnecessary.

American alligators have already endured decades of widespread hunting and exploitation in Louisiana. Their population once fell so dramatically that the state closed alligator hunting from 1962 to 1972. Although their numbers have since recovered, the animals continue to be killed through existing hunting programs, and this new recreational season will place thousands more at risk.

LDWF now estimates that more than 3 million wild alligators live in Louisiana.

Alligators should not be reduced to tags or targets for recreation. Louisiana should protect its wildlife, not sanction the killing of thousands more animals. This unnecessary sport hunt should not be allowed to move forward and must end before it begins.