http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/07/should-we-kill-man-eating-alligators/ Keeping You Current Sat, 18 May 2013 04:49:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/07/should-we-kill-man-eating-alligators/comment-page-1/#comment-569 os Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:50:41 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=1272#comment-569 Doesn't seem fair to kill creatures in their homes when we intrude and are injured. Some respect for the natural world instead of capital punishment, maybe? Doesn’t seem fair to kill creatures in their homes when we intrude and are injured. Some respect for the natural world instead of capital punishment, maybe?

]]> http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/07/should-we-kill-man-eating-alligators/comment-page-1/#comment-104 Brandon Sat, 14 Jul 2012 02:40:46 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=1272#comment-104 American alligators are not true man-eaters...they never actively hunt people as a source of food. Man-killer might be a better word, and even that is only true when the alligator has indeed killed a human (which is extremely rare, no fatalities since 2007). The American alligator is not an aggressive crocodilian species, if it was we'd be having attacks every week given the frequency in which people swim within alligator territory. Old world crocodilian species (particularly the Nile crocodile and the saltwater crocodile) will occasionally hunt humans as a source of food, and hence attack frequency is much, much higher (only in areas where people use croc-waterways on a daily basis). Attacks are rare in Australia since people simply know not to swim, plus there are far fewer crocodiles than alligators (150,000 crocs in Aussie...1.5 million gators in Florida). All in all, common sense goes a long way when living alongside crocodilians. American alligators are not true man-eaters…they never actively hunt people as a source of food. Man-killer might be a better word, and even that is only true when the alligator has indeed killed a human (which is extremely rare, no fatalities since 2007). The American alligator is not an aggressive crocodilian species, if it was we’d be having attacks every week given the frequency in which people swim within alligator territory. Old world crocodilian species (particularly the Nile crocodile and the saltwater crocodile) will occasionally hunt humans as a source of food, and hence attack frequency is much, much higher (only in areas where people use croc-waterways on a daily basis). Attacks are rare in Australia since people simply know not to swim, plus there are far fewer crocodiles than alligators (150,000 crocs in Aussie…1.5 million gators in Florida). All in all, common sense goes a long way when living alongside crocodilians.

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