River Otter Makes Quick Dinner of Baby Gator in Georgia Swamp

A game camera installed by the University of Georgia’s Applied Wildlife Conservation Lab shows how the tables turned among the wildlife at the Okefenokee swamplands, where a river otter decided to make a meal out of a baby alligator.

The project was initiated as a partnership between the Odum School of Ecology and the Okefenokee Swamp Park in 2017, the lab told Storyful. The lab deployed satellite tags on adult alligators, and the cameras were set up to monitor the animals’ interactions.

When the river otter killed the alligator, the game camera was set in order to capture the interactions of the otters and other wildlife in the area.

“The scent of the alligator carcass drew in a large crowd of wildlife. After the otter left with his kill, a family of raccoons, opossum, rats, mice, more otters, and a bobcat all appeared on camera to investigate, hoping for a free meal,” the lab told Storyful. Credit: Kristen Zemaitis, Applied Wildlife Conservation Lab via Storyful