The decision of Florida officials to allow alligator hunting in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge has sparked a protest by some people.

The authorities have allowed 11 hunters to hunt for the alligators in the wildlife sanctuary. The permits for these hunters were drawn from a pool of more than 1,200 applicants.

It is to be noted that alligator hunting is allowed in Florida since 1988. The licensed hunters are allotted up to two tags per season but Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge was never opened to the sport.

"Swamp People had something to do with it," said Tony Young, head of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's hunting division, to the Fort Meyers News-Press.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife officials monitored the alligator population in the sanctuary for around a decade before deciding that there was a large enough, sustainable population to allow a small harvest. The protesters have expressed serious disappointment over this decision.

The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge encompasses almost 150,000 thousand acres of the northern Everglades. According to the Loxahatchee Refuge website, alligators are an "umbrella or keystone species" of the sanctuary. They occupy the top position in the food chain and also dig shallow holes during the dry season, which collects water.

"Refuges should be places where animals are protected from harm and not hunted for fun or profit," said Nick Atwood, a campaign coordinator for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida Yahoo News.

Meanwhile, hunters are excited to receive the permission to hunt gators in this area. "It's just an untouched gem, to be able to hunt in a place that's never been hunted before," said Tony Majercik, one of the 11 hunters to receive a permit, to the Sun Sentinel. "Plus it's doing something good for the refuge. None of the gators there have any fear of man. They'll come right up to the boat and take the fish off your line."