S2E11: Wildlife Officer Jeff Babauta - Gator Country!
From Nature's Secret Service by Ed Newcomer
December 9, 2025 · 1h 11m · Season 2 · Episode 11
About this episode
Wildlife Officer Jeff Babauta discusses the illegal trafficking of alligator eggs and its impact on conservation efforts.
Forty years after US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Marie Palladini took on alligator skin traffickers, Wildlife Officer Jeff Babauta of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was back at it trying to tackle illegal shenanigans associated with the American alligator. In his case, though, Jeff is onto widespread laundering of wild caught alligator eggs and hatchlings, an illegal business that can rack up hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars in profits for traffickers. The practice seriously hampers alligator conservation and can have dramatic impacts on alligator nesting success from year to year.
People in this episode
Host: Ed Newcomer
Guest: Jeff Babauta
Topics covered
- wildlife conservation
- illegal trafficking
- alligator eggs
- Florida wildlife
- environmental impact
Keywords
- wildlife officer
- alligator trafficking
- conservation
- illegal business
- Florida wildlife
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Places: Gator Country, American alligator
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