Summary
More than one cheesy movie set in New Orleans has given people the idea that it’s a normal occurrence for dogs to be eaten by alligators on morning walks, or that the snapping crocodilians stalk the darkest corners of preschool playgrounds. Or, in particularly dense rainstorms, they come out in grinning droves, snapping their way through crowds of confused tourists.
Thankfully, none of that is even vaguely true.
Once upon a time, a good part of what is now New Orleans was covered in dense, marshy wetlands, and as such, was most certainly populated by alligators. Nowadays, though, the swamp that once engulfed much of the city has been drained, and the alligators are mostly gone.
In Town
The only place within the New Orleans city limits where you have a good chance of seeing an alligator is in City Park, where alligators can be seen lurking in the numerous lagoons and waterways. Generally, the gators here are on the smaller side, as the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries relocates larger ones.
If you’d like to see them, wander the lagoons for a bit (stick to the slightly wilder areas North of I-610) and keep your eyes open. Feel free to ask any fishermen along the banks if they’ve seen any; folks who fish in the lagoons regularly will be able to point out favorite sunning spots. There are definitely no guarantees, though. In fact, the odds are actually pretty good that you won’t see a gator, but it’s still a gorgeous place to take a walk.
Out of Town
If you want to see gators in the wild, your best bet is to escape the city for a bit and either take a swamp boat tour or visit a nature preserve.
There are several excellent swamp tour companies that offer pick-up service either from your hotel or from a centralized spot in or near the French Quarter. Honey Island Swamp Tours, based out of Slidell, is an ideal choice. They are an eco-tour company, founded by an ecologist, utilizing low-wake boats that do not disrupt the wildlife. Guides are skilled at finding gators in their natural habitats, making spotting some quite likely, though not guaranteed.
Cajun Pride Swamp Tours offers another popular alternative. This tour takes visitors through a privately-owned wildlife refuge just 25 miles from the heart of New Orleans.
If you prefer to see wildlife from a hiking trail, you can drive out to the Barataria Preserve at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. The extensive network of trails allows you to get up (relatively) close and personal with gators and other fascinating local animals.
Behind Glass
If you’re really looking for a definite, guaranteed alligator sighting or prefer the safety of a nice thick pane of glass between you and the closest snapping jaws, the Audubon Institute has you covered.
You can observe alligators at both the Audubon Zoo and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. Both locations are home to a pair of the Institute’s famous white alligators, which are particularly intriguing to see and not likely to be found in the wild. The Zoo features an array of regular alligators as well, including some impressively large specimens that you can safely observe from quite close up.
