Oklahoma wildlife officials want to study alligators in the state.Oklahoma has its fair share of predators, but did you know we also have alligators? The state Department of Wildlife Conservation wants to study them."A lot of people don’t realize we have alligators in Oklahoma, but alligators are native," said Micah Holmes, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.An alligator was recently seen at the Red Slough Wildlife Management area near Idabel."Biologists always want to know two things, how many animals are out there, and how that population is growing or not growing," Holmes said.The gators are part of two new studies being done through the department to see how the predators survive in southeast Oklahoma."How many alligators are there out there, and is that population expanding, or contracting. There’s lots of things we don’t know about alligators in Oklahoma," Holmes said.When it’s over 100 degrees outside, it’s hard to believe that a small section of the state is one of the few areas where the gators can survive."Any further west or north in the state, it’s just too cold for them," Holmes said.Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Southwestern Adventist are helping with the research."It’s usually masters or Ph.D. students that are doing research projects on the animals," Holmes said.Holmes does have a piece of advice."We certainly don’t recommend interacting with them, observe from a distance," Holmes said.