THE LEDGER (Lakeland, Florida) 24 December 06 Alligators in Fenced Pond Are Dead Meat (Merissa Green)
Winter Haven: A retention pond near William G. Roe Park may become the grave site of four hungry alligators who have become trapped, said Roger Griffiths, district manager of the Lake Region Lakes Management District.
Griffiths said the alligators have been there for some time now and there aren't many fish in the pond to keep them fed. He's not sure how they got into the fenced-in property that is between the Lakes Management district office and a park on Seventh Street Southwest.
"It seems like there would be an option to allow the alligator to live," Griffiths said. "It's not a safety issue. It's an animal issue."
The alligators linger around the storm drains in the retention ponds.
When he contacted Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials, Griffiths was told that if they responded, the alligators would have to be killed by trappers.
Gary Morse, a commission spokesman, said his agency receives calls every day about relocating alligators.
Unless the alligators are 4 feet or shorter, relocating is not an option, he said.
"It doesn't ensure their survival," Morse said. "Our trappers make their money by selling the meat and hide."
If the wildlife commission was to move an alligator to another habitat, it would infringe on the territory of another alligator and one would eventually kill the other, Morse said.
"These decisions aren't based on what we think we like to see but what's best in nature," he said. "Moving them has no conservation value to the species and it's detrimental to the alligators."
If Griffiths chooses, he can try to find a facility licensed to keep live alligators and make arrangements for one of the wildlife commission's trappers to remove it for a fee.
"That's his option if he doesn't want to see the alligators destroyed," he said.
Griffiths said he thought the job of dealing with alligators was the responsibility of the wildlife commission.
"We reported to the people we thought would have an interest in solving the problem," Griffiths said.
Alligators in Fenced Pond Are Dead Meat