For 16 years, Florida protected alligators from hunters as an endangered species. The reptiles have multiplied mightily, increasing their numbers to an estimated half a million today. But the state's human population also has been expanding rapidly, and contractors have been filling in swamps and marshes for real estate developments. The result: the once endangered species became an endangering one, venturing onto golf courses and into backyard swimming pools. Last year there were twelve unprovoked attacks by gators on humans. One victim, a man who had been cleaning weeds from his dock, died.
Now the reclassification of gators as a threatened species...
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