Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: North Carolina
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The goal is to analyze and evaluate currently available alligator data to estimate occupancy and relative abundance via spotlight surveys, evaluate the ability of spotlight surveys to provide adequate information for monitoring programs, and investigate approaches to estimate demographic rates and abundance using a case study of an intensively studied alligator population at Lake Waccamaw. Results of this work provide direct evaluations of current alligator monitoring efforts in North Carolina (spotlight surveys, mark-recapture methods) and the development of approaches that can extend to regional- and statewide alligator research and management programs in North Carolina.