Florida Everglades is facing a huge crisis that is forcing alligators to get more aggressive

Daily Mail, February 28, 2026

South Florida's Everglades is facing a once-in-a-quarter-century drought that is threatening its ecosystem and could force alligators to become more aggressive.

This year's drought, which has caused a water shortage in South Florida and dramatically reduced water levels in its iconic wetlands, is particularly dire because it has been building up since last year. 

Dr. Stephen Davis, chief science officer at the Everglades Foundation, told the Daily Mail that the Everglades was already in 'a severe to extreme drought' at this time last year.

'The issues are starting to express themselves more clearly and severely now,' he said.

He explained that South Florida's dry season extends from October to May, so it is early in the season for conditions to be so severe. 

'We've had droughts of greater magnitude or equivalent magnitude occur later in the dry season, but that we're seeing it this early in the year is concerning,' Davis told the Daily Mail.

The drought and its impact could continue to get worse until the region's wet season returns in the spring, when South Florida receives 75 percent of its average five feet of annual rainfall. The last comparable drought to the current one was in 2001, Davis said.

Read the full Daily Mail here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15591973/florida-everglades-drought-aggressive-alligators.html

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