ORLANDO, Fla. – The conventional wisdom in Florida is that if you see a body of water, assume there is a gator in it.
But some bodies of water have more than others — quite a few more.
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Every year, officials at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission take an alligator census of up to 100 bodies of water around Florida.
The census is an estimate. As you can imagine, counting alligators is no easy task, let alone counting them accurately. FWC includes a standard error that varies depending on the body of water.
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It should surprise no one that Lake Okeechobee, Florida’s largest lake, also has the most gators, according to the most recent data obtained by News 6 through a public records request. The survey was conducted between May and August 2023. Officials counted 24,678 gators in the large South Florida Lake.
The Central Florida lake with the most alligators is Lake Kissimmee, along the Osceola-Polk county line, where 15,404 gators were counted.
After that, Lake Jesup in Seminole County comes in third with 11,881 gators.
Orange Lake along the Marion-Alachua county line has 11,544 gators and ranks fourth.
Rounding out the Top Five is Lake Poinsett, part of the St. Johns River, which is along the Brevard-Orange-Osceola county border.
FWC only had recent data for 55 of the waterways as part of the alligator census, but the FWC estimate comes out to 210,485 gators just in those waterways.
FWC also estimates there are about 1.3 million alligators throughout Florida.
Wherever you see a gator, FWC officials remind people to keep their distance from it. Never feed a gator and only swim in designated swimming areas during daylight hours. Also, keep pets on a leash when you’re near the water.
To learn more about Florida’s alligator population, check out the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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