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The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) is a species of conservation concern across its range due to past commercial harvest for consumption. Northern Louisiana was originally surveyed in the 1980s, but the survey data were not compiled and published. After almost 40 years, we resurveyed the region to validate the historic data as well as provide current data on the distribution of Alligator Snapping Turtles. From the 1980s, we provide demographic data for 300 Alligator Snapping Turtles collected from 17 Louisiana parishes. From 2018–2020, we captured and measured 62 Alligator Snapping Turtles from 19 trapping sites. We recommend continued surveying and monitoring efforts in Louisiana to track populations during the post-commercial–harvest period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the conservation status of Macrochelys (alligator snapping turtles) being examined at the national level, our objective was to compile categorical data on threats from anthropogenic interactions. We included information from (1) author-collected anecdotes on human–turtle interactions and (2) radiographs to assess the prevalence of ingested fishing hooks. We placed 173 interactions involving 192 incidents into 9 IUCN threat categories and found bycatch involving fish hooks to be 4 times more numerous than the second-most numerous threat, turtle persecution. Fishing bycatch resulted in a high proportion of turtle mortalities (39%), and bycatch incidents in several cases preceded the highest-mortality threat (53%), persecution of individuals involving shooting or blunt trauma. We recommend fishing bycatch-mitigation measures and educational efforts to help conserve Macrochelys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]