Are There Alligators in Washington State?

Quick Answer:

• No, there are no alligators in Washington State.
• Alligators do not live in the wild in Washington State due to the cold temperatures throughout most of the state.

Washington State has a wide variety of different wildlife, including reptiles. People in the Evergreen State can run into venomous snakes, turtles, lizards, and more. Can they run into any more exotic reptiles, though? More specifically, are there alligators in Washington State? Discover whether these extra-large reptiles are waiting near the lakes and rivers in this part of the Pacific Northwest.

About American Alligators

American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are a large species of crocodilian reptiles. While they are smaller than most crocodiles, alligators can reach between 8 and 11.2 feet in length and may weigh as much as 800 pounds at their largest.

Alligators, sometimes called gators, have a U-shaped snout, about 80 teeth, and a large upper jaw that hides the creature’s teeth on its lower jaw. These reptiles can appear in dark gray or black with a cream-colored underside.

Alligators are powerful, deadly carnivores that eat fish, birds, small mammals, and more. They tend to live in freshwater environments like rivers, lakes, marshes, and even some brackish waterways. Gators use these environments to hunt, often hiding below the waterline or in brush on land to ambush their prey.

These reptiles are not something that people should take lightly. On average, they kill 6 people per year in the United States. Now that we’ve shown you a little bit about these creatures, let’s get back to the original question of whether there are alligators in Washington State.

Are There Alligators in Washington State?

No, there are no alligators in Washington State. At least, these reptiles do not live in the wild in Washington State. The reptiles would have a hard time surviving in the cold temperatures throughout most of the state.

Alligators are mostly found along coastal regions in the southeastern United States. They do not even like to cross Georgia’s Fall Line because the winters get too harsh for them. So, these reptiles do not naturally occur in Washington State. In fact, the closest state to this one that has wild alligators is Texas.

Readers may have noticed that this article emphasizes the fact that gators are not found in the wild in Washington State. That is not the only place where alligators can live, though. Let us explore this wrinkle some more in the next section.

Can You Find Any Alligators in Washington State?

Let’s broaden the answers to the question, are there alligators in Washington State? People who want to see alligators in Washington State will not see them in the wild. Does that mean they are impossible to see in the state entirely? Not at all.

So, where can you find alligators in this part of the United States? Well, the first and most obvious option is to find the deadly reptiles in a zoo. The aptly named Reptile Zoo in Monroe, Washington is home to several species of reptiles, including the alligator. Alligators are not the most popular creatures for zookeepers to contain in zoos, though, so few facilities house them.

Aside from zoos, it is almost impossible to see alligators in the Evergreen State. Occasionally, a gator is spotted in the wild or in the possession of an individual who is not supposed to have one.

In 2022, animal control offers from Pierce County fielded a call about a man living with an alligator in a shipping container. The animal control officers seized the alligator.

Unconfirmed reports of alligators swimming in Lake Meridian and Lake Washington have emerged in recent years. Although nobody has produced any evidence of these reptiles living in the wild, the fact remains that some alligators live in the state.

So, are there alligators in Washington State? No, not unless one counts illegally kept gators or those in zoos.  

Where Do Alligators Live in the United States?

These reptiles thrive in many places throughout the United States. Alligators live in ten states, including the following:

• Louisiana
• Florida
• Texas
• Georgia
• South Carolina
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Arkansas
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma

Louisiana has the highest population of alligators in the United States with an estimated 2 million of them living in this part of the country. Looking at these states on a map, it’s clear that the alligators mostly stay in the southeastern portions of the United States. Furthermore, they rarely travel very far inland unless they can travel through a sizable body of water like the Mississippi River.

Within these ranges, alligators tend to live in freshwater areas like lakes, rivers, marshes, and swamps. These animals can pass through somewhat salty water for brief periods, but they do not have the biological toolkit necessary to survive in saltwater for long amounts of time. Other crocodilians thrive in saltwater conditions, especially saltwater crocodiles.

Do Alligators Live Anywhere Else in the World?

Interestingly, yes, alligators do live outside of the United States. However, they are not the American alligators. Instead, another species of alligator lives in the world, and it is called the Chinese alligator. Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) are smaller than American alligators, growing about 4 to 7 feet long and weighing about 80 to 100 pounds on average. These reptiles only live in the Yangtze River Basin in China, and they are critically endangered.

American alligators are only native to the United States. However, that could change in the future. These reptiles are making their way farther south along the southeast coast of Texas. As a result, these animals could potentially move into Mexico in the future.

For now, though, people will not see them in the Yucatan Peninsula area. So, are there alligators in Washington State? No, there are none of these giant reptiles lurking around the Evergreen State in the wild. However, some zoos keep them in the state. Also, some people illegally keep gators as pets, but even that is a rarity. Lastly, people have started rumors of alligators in some of the state’s lakes, but no definitive proof of their existence has emerged. Who knows what the future will hold, though?

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Ruslan Mussin/Shutterstock.com