SREL Reprint #3584

Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator). Diet

Sarah Webster, Matt Hamilton, and James C. Beasley

University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry
and Natural Resources, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA

Abstract: Alligator mississippiensis is widely distributed in the southeastern U.S. and is considered an apex predator. However, variability in alligator feeding behavior and diet has been observed throughout the range due to geographic variation in food availability. Although typically thought of as carnivorous hunters, alligators also will scavenge carrion opportunistically in aquatic and terrestrial habitats, although such behavior has rarely been observed in nature. Here we report two observations of adult A. mississippiensis scavenging adult Sus scrofa (wild pig) on the Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, South Carolina, USA.

SREL Reprint #3584

Webster, S. C., M. Hamilton, and J. C. Beasley. 2016. Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator). Diet. Herpetological Review 47(2):290-291.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).