Gatorland Guests Join Egg Harvest
(Orlando Business Journal) -- Area residents or tourists who want to see the real Florida can join a five-day trip next week collecting the unhatched eggs of the state's most famous reptile, the alligator. Cypress Glades Ad-venture Tours, a subsidiary of Gatorland, leaves Orlando July 8 for the five-day excursion into the marsh and swamp areas around Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Everglades. The tour includes transportation, lodging and meals. The egg collection in the wild is sanctioned by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commis-sion. The state group allows 30 commercial alligator farmers, including Gatorland, to harvest up to half the eggs in nests that are spotted by aerial surveys. The 20-year-old activity is considered part of a sustainable use program that the state says actually reduces poaching and overpopulation of the animals. A spokes-woman for Gatorland says the attraction no longer raises alligators for harvest but continues to participate in the program as part of its eco-tourism business.
(Orlando Business Journal) -- Area residents or tourists who want to see the real Florida can join a five-day trip next week collecting the unhatched eggs of the state's most famous reptile, the alligator. Cypress Glades Ad-venture Tours, a subsidiary of Gatorland, leaves Orlando July 8 for the five-day excursion into the marsh and swamp areas around Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Everglades. The tour includes transportation, lodging and meals. The egg collection in the wild is sanctioned by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commis-sion. The state group allows 30 commercial alligator farmers, including Gatorland, to harvest up to half the eggs in nests that are spotted by aerial surveys. The 20-year-old activity is considered part of a sustainable use program that the state says actually reduces poaching and overpopulation of the animals. A spokes-woman for Gatorland says the attraction no longer raises alligators for harvest but continues to participate in the program as part of its eco-tourism business.