Crimes Against Crocodilians
In many parts of the country, the only thing you have to fear if you swim in a river or lake, or if your canoe capsizes, is a brain-eating amoeba, and while primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) infections are rare, only a few people have ever survived them. If you enter unchlorinated freshwater in Florida, though, your biggest fear is something much more macroscopic. Even Floridians who stay cautiously on land except when they swim in swimming pools have had nightmares about coming face to face with beady eyes or a toothy grin as they flounder helplessly in the water. Florida has the biggest alligator population of anywhere in the United States, and while the American alligator is neither the biggest nor the most aggressive crocodilian species on Earth, not by a long shot, there have been enough alligator attacks in Florida in recent memory to make everyone think twice before entering a river or lake, unless one is riding in a large, motorized vessel. Not only that, but the southernmost parts of Florida are also part of the range of the American crocodile, which is even bigger than the American alligator. In fact, Florida is the only place on Earth with both a native alligator population and a native crocodile population. Even though it might be hard to believe when you see an alligator or crocodile in the zoo or in the wild, humans are more dangerous to crocodilians than crocodilians are to humans, and it is a crime to harm a crocodilian in Florida. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains the laws about being too aggressive toward crocodilians and. Conversely, the laws about being too friendly towards them.
It Is a Crime to Kill or Injure an Alligator or Crocodile in Florida
In October 2025, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a call from a witness who had seen a crocodile swimming off the coast of Key Largo with a spear gun bolt lodged in its head. After several days of searching, FWC found the crocodile and captured her. If they had not, the wound would have become infected, and the crocodile would have died a slow and painful death. Veterinarians were able to remove the bolt during surgery, and the crocodile is now recovering at a wildlife sanctuary.
According to federal law, it is a crime to capture, injure, or kill an American alligator or other crocodilian. The maximum penalty is a $50,000 fine and a year in jail. Florida’s laws are even stricter, though. Capturing or harming a crocodilian in Florida is a third-degree felony. The maximum penalty is $5,000 in fines and five years in state prison. The reason Florida takes crocodilian safety so seriously is that the American crocodile is threatened, which means that its conservation status is that it is at risk of becoming an endangered species, although its population is still too large to count as endangered. The biggest threats to the American crocodile are habitat loss and attacks by humans, like the one that injured the crocodile that FWC captured last month.
American alligators, by contrast, are a wildlife conservation success story. By the middle of the 20th century, humans had hunted them almost to extinction for their meat and skins. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 made it illegal to hunt alligators. Their numbers have since rebounded, and Florida now issues permits for hunters to kill a certain number of alligators each year. In other words, the laws regarding alligators are the same as the laws about hunting other wild game species.
Don’t Be Too Buddy-Buddy With Crocodilians, Either
To the chagrin of amateur herpetologists everywhere, the law against capturing crocodilians in order to kill them also applies to capturing crocodilians when all you want is to be their friend. Possession of alligators or crocodiles is illegal if you are keeping them as pets, no matter how spacious the crocodile pond might be, and even if you take as good care of your scaly pets as the priests of the Crocodilopolis temple in ancient Egypt took of the Petsuchos. Yes, there are zoos that keep crocodilians, but until your property becomes licensed as a zoo, it is against the law for you to keep crocodilians on your property.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for illegally hunting alligators or crocodiles or keeping them as pets. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Sources:
miaminewtimes.com/news/florida-investigating-key-largo-crocodile-abuse-after-video-emerges-40496582/
eregulations.com/florida/hunting/alligator-hunting-adventure#:~:text=Florida%20offers%20regulated%20opportunities%20for,all%20available%20alligator%20harvest%20permits.
