The American alligator is an Endangered Species Act win

• The state's gator population had dropped below 100,000 when the act was enacted, and today it numbers over 2 million, according to Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries.

How it happened: Thanks to a unique program that combines harvesting alligator eggs in the wild with monitoring hatching on farms and returning live gators to their natural habitats, the population came roaring back.

• That's because more alligators survive their hatchling and juvenile years on farms than do in the wild, where they face a number of natural predators.

Other conservation victories include the Louisiana Black Bear and a recent reintroduction project for whooping cranes.

Yes, but: Not all are so lucky.

• The state keeps track of threatened plants and wildlife.
• In one case, the ivory-billed woodpecker was expected to be declared extinct earlier this year, but a grainy video may (or may not!) have captured sight of one in Louisiana recently.