BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' first recreational alligator harvest in 50 years wrapped up last month with more than 1,800 gators being harvested.

According to LDWF statistics, 3,606 hunters harvested the 1,817 gators. 

"Louisiana's first recreational alligator season was a success!,'' Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement issued Monday. "With more than 3 million alligators in our state, this was an exciting opportunity for families to enjoy our Sportsman's Paradise. I'd like to thank the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for their great work. We can't wait to bring it back next year!"

The recreational alligator season was conducted through a lottery process and ran from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31. The average harvest size during the inaugural season was 7.5 feet.