An alligator was caught on camera in the Wolf River in West Tennessee.
A Tennessee Wildlife Resource personnel recorded the 7-foot alligator at the Wolf River WMA in Fayette County.
It was one of several confirmed sightings of alligators in Southwest Tennessee.
"They're reclaiming areas that they once lived in," Region II TWRA spokesman, Barry Cross said. "We don't have a breeding population of alligators. We have alligators that come up from Mississippi, they kind of hang out and live around in there but we are not growing."
Officials said alligators are naturally migrating into Tennessee from the southern border states. TWRA has not stocked any alligators in Tennessee. Alligators migrating into Tennessee is just another species that we must learn to coexist with like many of the other southern states. "The best thing to do would be to observe it from a distance, leave it alone. It'll go on its own way," said Cross.
According to wildlife officials, alligators can survive Tennessee winters by going into a hibernation-like dormancy called brumation. They can withstand periods of ice by sticking their snout out of the water before it freezes which allows them to continue breathing.
TWRA would like to remind everyone that alligators are a protected species and catching or shooting one is a violation of the law. If you come across one while exploring the outdoors in West TN, leave it alone and enjoy Tennessee’s unique biodiversity.
