Florida alligator kills 85-year-old woman while saving her dog

MISE À DAY

An 85-year-old woman has died after being savagely attacked by an alligator while walking her dog in Fort Pierce, Florida – an isolated tragedy, experts say. 

Local media reported that the 10-foot-long, about three-meter-long alligator initially charged at the lady's dog, but chased after her once she tried to save her. his pitou. 

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), with the agency implicated in the case, alligator attacks, especially those resulting in death, are rare. 

Monday, the FWC and the St. Lucia County Sheriff's Office responded to an emergency call at the Spanish Lakes Fairways retirement community for people 55 and older. 

Neighbors told local media that the alligator got out of the water and lunged at the dog. She tried to pull the hound away from the reptile, but thus exposed herself to the alligator. 

She succumbed to her injuries shortly afterwards, but the dog survived . “The victim was recovered and a contract trapper captured the alligator,” FWC said in a statement. 

Trappers removing gator from scene. @WPTV pic.twitter.com/VTfj94KaLT

— Jon Shainman (@JonShainman) February 20, 2023

After locating the large alligator in the retirement housing complex, six wildlife officials grabbed him and then put him in the back of a pickup truck. 

Unusual fatal attacks in Florida 

The FWC recommends asking about sightings of alligators when near fresh water, and if someone if attacked, the “best thing to do is to fight back”. 

According to FWC spokespersons, alligators are “opportunistic eaters” and will bite easy prey and accessible. 

If prey is not quickly subdued, often “[the alligator] will let go and retreat.” 

These reptiles can be found in all 67 counties in the US state, but they “rarely attack people,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website. 

In fact, only 26 of 442 bites not provoked led to human deaths in Florida.