Louisiana:As alligator population grows, state considers putting fewer back into wild

John Price is a Louisiana rancher. But instead of hooves and horns, his livestock have scales and claws, and sometimes they put their food into what's known as a "death roll."  That didn’t seem to faze Price on a sunny October afternoon as he threw open the door to one of the low-slung barns where his animals live, even as he pointed to the scars on his arms and hands he's gotten from them. After all, these creatures — ranging in size from foot-long hatchlings to an 8-footer that stared unblinkingly from 6 feet away — are his business, and business is about to get a little better on his 15-acre ranch near Abita Springs.  Indeed, alligator ranchers across the state got some good news last month: The commission that regulates their industry voted to lower the proportion of ranched alligators that must be returned to the wild, starting next year. The cut — from 12 percent to 10 percent for alligators that are at least 48 inches long — may seem small, but it's nevertheless a boon for ranchers and a sign that Louisiana's efforts to bolster the population of wild alligators are paying off.