Are there alligators in Missouri?
Last checked November 3, 2026 against official sources.
On this page
Not established.
USGS NAS lists 6 nonindigenous American alligator records in Missouri (St. Louis 2003, Cass 2005, Boone 2007, Taney 2009, Jefferson 2010, Ste. Genevieve 2010), all with status "failed" (not established).
Source: US Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database
More official answers for Missouri
Are there cottonmouths (water moccasins) in Missouri?
Yes. MDC: northern cottonmouth, southeastern corner and a spotty distribution in the Ozark Region. MDC
Where the American alligator lives in the US
- Native or listed
- Nonnative or not established
- No official record in our data
- 1–9
- 10–99
- 100–999
- 1,000+
Where official sources do confirm it
Official sources confirm the American alligator in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee border Missouri.
- Oklahoma: “American alligators are difficult to find in Oklahoma. But they can be found in remote and marshy areas in the southeastern corner of the state.” Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
- Arkansas: “…lies at the northern edge of the animal’s natural range, she said, with most of the” University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service
- Tennessee: “What we’re seeing are alligators naturally expanding their range into Tennessee from the southern border states.” Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
What else it could be
Photo: Dennis Vollmar · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist American crocodile
Crocodile: lighter grayish-green skin, narrow tapered triangular snout, fourth lower tooth visible with the mouth closed, and mostly coastal brackish or salt water in south Florida. Alligator: darker, broad rounded snout, mostly fresh water.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized Spectacled caiman
USGS: the common (spectacled) caiman's snout is not as broad and round as the American alligator's, and unlike the alligator it has a unique bony ridge in front of and between the eyes.
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If you see one in Missouri
Keep your distance and do not try to catch or handle it. Report sightings of black bears, elk, mountain lions, feral hogs, rare furbearers and some small mammals to MDC. MDC
Other questions about Missouri
Sources
- USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database: Alligator mississippiensis occurrences, state=MO (API v2). U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database. database queried November 3, 2026; checked November 3, 2026.
- A Guide to Missouri's Snakes (MDC publication E00448). Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). Copyright 2017; checked November 3, 2026.
Quoted passages (1)
“Southeastern corner and a spotty distribution in the Ozark Region.”
- A Guide to Missouri's Common Mammals (MDC publication E00500). Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). Copyright 2026; checked November 3, 2026.
Quoted passages (1)
“MDC is taking reports for sightings of black bears, elk, mountain lions, feral hogs, rare furbearers, and small mammals such as Franklin's ground squirrels and plains pocket gophers.”