How to report alligator body condition in south Florida

What exactly does body condition mean? Body condition describes an animal’s overall physical health and tells us how well that animal is coping with its environment. In the case of American alligators in the Everglades, monitoring their body condition tells us how they are responding to changes in depth, timing, and flow of freshwater. Since we cannot look everywhere all the time, we are seeking the help of citizen scientists to help track alligator health throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem.

We use a body condition scoring system (BCS) as a simple way to assess an alligator’s body condition from a safe distance. To make it easy for citizen scientists to report skinny alligators, we have developed a body condition score (BCS) from 1 to 3, where 1 = emaciated (bad), 2 = thin (usual for Everglades alligators), and 3 = normal for their entire range (good).

Basically, alligators store energy reserves as muscle and fat, especially in the jowls and base of the tail. Healthy alligators have full jowls and plump tails, while unhealthy alligators have shrunken jowls and thin tails.

Use the following body condition scores to classify the health and condition of an alligator based on appearance of their physical anatomy:

BCS 01 – Emaciated
• Shrunk jowls and thin neck
• Very bony with thin limbs
• Very visible spinal column
• Wrinkled skin
• Very bony or thin tail

BCS 02 – Thin
• Lean jowls
• Thin limbs
• Barely visible spinal column
• Lean tail and tail girth

BCS 03 – Normal
• Full, fleshy, or bulky jowls
• Muscular, fleshy limbs
• No visible spinal column
• Plump tail and larger tail girth

Posted on April 9, 2019 08:06 PM by justindalaba