Alligator vs shark: study reveals top predators are eating each other in America
Researchers caught more than 500 alligators over 10 years and found remains of sharks up to four feet long in some of their stomachs
American alligators are frequently seen ambling around golf courses in Florida as players warily compete their rounds. But new research suggests the reptiles partake in a far more outlandish habit when away from the greens – eating sharks.
US researchers have documented instances of alligators preying upon small sharks along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. A study, published in the journal Southeastern Naturalist, claimed it was the first scientific study of the largely unseen struggle between the two feared predators.
“The frequency of one predator eating the other is really about size dynamic,” said James Nifong, a researcher at Kansas State University.
“If a small shark swims by an alligator and the alligator feels like it can take the shark down, it will, but we also reviewed some old stories about larger sharks eating smaller alligators.”
The findings bring into question how important sharks and rays are to the alligator diet
Nifong and his colleagues spent nearly 10 years studying alligators along the Florida and Georgia coasts, typically using lamps at night to view their nocturnal hunting activities. More than 500 alligators were caught and had their stomachs pumped to see what they had consumed.