Endangered

People once made shoes and bags from alligator skins. Such fashions and human destruction of alligators’ habitat, or places to live, were serious threats to these reptiles. In 1967, alligators were listed as endangered—that is, in danger of becoming extinct.

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Recovered Subheading

By working together, the government and other groups were able to save alligators. The species is now doing well. It was removed from the endangered list in 1987, although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service still watches it closely.

Habitat of the American Alligator

As a cold-blooded reptile, the American alligator lives in warm climates, shown here in yellow.

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American alligator