MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday said they have issued tickets to the person responsible for causing a decapitated alligator carcass to show up near the Shem Creek boat landing.
SCDNR investigators were able to determine that the alligator carcass was from an animal that had been legally taken by a professional wildlife control operator under a “nuisance alligator” depredation permit issued to a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) in the Mount Pleasant area.
SCDNR said these permits require that the animal’s remains are disposed of in a legal manner and specifically exclude disposal by placing in public waterways.
The depredation permit disposal regulations were updated and strengthened following a 2015 incident in which five alligator carcasses washed up after being disposed of in the Ashley River, the release said.
The individual responsible voluntarily contacted SCDNR after seeing stories about the carcass on the news.
Following an investigation with a DNR officer in Charleston County, they said the individual was forthcoming and cooperative about having disposed of the alligator by putting it in the creek.
The individual was written a ticket for littering, as well as a warning ticket for violating the regulations regarding the disposal of alligators taken under the permit program.
The case will be handled in Charleston Magistrate’s Court.