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In the last two months, alligators have been spotted sitting on a front porch, playing tug of war with police officers, walking from house to house, and on Tuesday, June 9, one was found shot to death.
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North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Alligator Biologist Alicia Wassmer said that as North Carolina’s human population booms, biologists are seeing more human-alligator interactions in the state.
The North Carolina Resources Commission maintains a Human Wildlife Interaction Hotline staffed by four full-time biologists.
“The numbers of calls that we got just about alligators in the last few years, it’s more and more each year, and it’s definitely tied to that increase in human development, particularly places like Brunswick (county),” Wassmer said.
The majority of calls to NCWRC’s Wildlife Hotline concerning alligators come from the two southernmost coastal counties of New Hanover and Brunswick, according to the commission. Human populations have doubled in New Hanover and tripled in Brunswick since the species was removed from the federal endangered species list in 1987.
North Carolina is the third-fastest growing state in the country, The News & Observer reported. Unlike people, there is no estimate for how many alligators are in North Carolina, Wassmer said. North Carolina is the northernmost edge of the range for alligators, with lower densities than locations further south.
“They’re much more pocketed in the places along the coast where they live, and so surveys to come up with a statewide population estimate would be a lot more intense and time consuming and expensive than they would be in the core of the range,” Wassmer said.
Despite naturally lower populations of alligators, Wassmer said the reptiles are very important to the coastal environment they inhabit.
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“They’re just really important ecologically to the ecosystems where they live, so they are definitely a positive, have positive impact on the environment where they are, and we want to do everything we can to keep alligators wild and people safe,” Wassmer said.
Wassmer said the commission encourages people to reference GatorWise, a multistate outreach initiative modeled on BearWise, an initiative to standardize information about living safely near bears.
Wildlife agencies in each of the 11 states where the alligator is found are involved in GatorWise.
Wassmer said unlike mammals, alligators won’t necessarily bolt if they see people, so you might be able to observe them — but from a safe distance.
“Envision the length of a full-size school bus, you know, have at least that far between you and the alligator, even for the really small ones,” Wassmer said. “For the really big ones, I’d say even two school bus lengths is better.”
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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 9:05 AM with the headline “NC has lots of alligators. Here’s where you’re most likely to see one.”
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