Can alligators survive this apex predator? - Kenny Coogan
It's 5000 BCE in the verdant
swamps of North America,
and this young deer has
no idea it’s being hunted.
Suddenly, an alligator hurtles out of the
water at almost 50 kilometers an hour,
locking its jaws around its prey
and swinging wildly in a signature move
known as the death roll.
This deer never stood a chance,
but then, nothing in this region can
compete with this apex predator.
These alligators easily devour
the birds, turtles, and small fish
living in what’s known today
as Everglades National Park.
But despite ruling the swamp
for millennia,
the last 500 years have brought
deadly new predators
that challenge the alligators’ reign.
And the origins of these international
invaders are just as unexpected
as their impact on the Everglades.
We tend to think of swamps
as hostile landscapes
since they’re overflowing
with plant and animal life.
But all this biodiversity makes these
environments vital to regional food webs.
And the Everglades are no exception.
The park's subtropical climate can support
species from around the world,
and its borders are full of ecotones—
transition areas between habitats—
that connect the region’s
freshwater prairies,
rocky pinelands, mangrove forests,
and more.
Human activity has made the region
even more biodiverse,
developing Florida into a major port
that welcomes countless human
and non-human migrants.
In the 1500s, Spanish colonizers
brought wild boar to the area,
which quickly multiplied
and uprooted the wetlands.
They devoured alligator eggs and spread
European parasites to local panthers.
Then, in the 1800s,
Florida’s shipping industry exploded,
bringing all manner
of new invasive species.
Brazilian peppertrees blocked out the sun,
water hyacinths clogged the rivers,
and brown anole lizards
upset the food chain.
Alligator populations mostly
endured this onslaught,
but in the late 19th century,
human intervention kicked
things up a notch.
Government and business officials wanted
to turn the Everglades into farmland
and began building canals
to drain the swamp.
They also planted non-native trees
which crowded out the plants
local birds relied on for
food and shelter,
which in turn limited
the alligators’ supply of prey.
Interventions like this wreaked havoc
on the Everglades for decades,
until a conservationist named
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
finally came to their defense.
In 1947, Douglas published a landmark book
explaining that the Everglades
were not only a unique
and precious ecosystem,
but that the region’s most fearsome
residents were actually vital
to sustaining it.
During the wet season,
alligators are constantly shaping
the muddy landscape,
drawing lines with their bodies
and digging holes
with their snouts, claws, and tails.
In the dry season,
these indentations become essential
watering holes and firebreaks,
maintaining and protecting
the swamp’s other residents.
In the wake of Douglas’ book,
Everglades National Park was established
to formally begin protecting
the landscape and its scaly stewards.
But outside the park,
conditions were brewing
for the most dangerous invasion yet.
Over the next 40 years,
the exotic pet trade
brought parakeets, iguanas,
and relatives of piranhas to the region.
In the 1990s, Burmese pythons became
a cheap, popular pet for many Floridians.
Some snake owners released their pets
into the wild when they grew too large.
But the python population
really exploded in 1992
when a hurricane destroyed
a breeding facility
and released countless snakes
into the wild.
Since then, pythons have been
connected to a 90% decrease
in some local mammal populations,
decimating the alligators’ food supply.
And with help from other invasive
reptiles like black and white tegus—
giant lizards who devour alligator eggs—
these snakes have made a serious play
for the top of the local food chain.
Today, Florida ranks among the regions
with the most invasive species
in the world.
Some researchers suggest
hunting these invaders down,
while others recommend bringing in yet
more creatures to balance the scales,
such as releasing insects
to eat invasive plants.
It might seem absurd to try solving
this problem with more foreign fauna.
But perhaps a new arrival could
fight invaders and feed the alligators—
giving them the boost they need
to reclaim their ancient home.
