An 80-year-old woman was killed by two alligators after she fell into a lake near her home in Englewood, Fla., Friday night, authorities said.
Fatal alligator attacks are rare in the United States, usually happening about once a year, but the latest is at least the third in the United States since May. The body of a man who had been retrieving a frisbee from a lake in Largo, Florida, was found on May 31. And in June, a man was killed after being dragged into a tank by an alligator in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
In the latest attack, the woman struggled to stay afloat after falling into the lake at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club community and was then grabbed by two alligators, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said. Club officials could not immediately be reached Sunday.
The victim, Rose Marie Wiegand, was pronounced dead at the scene. Douglas Johnson, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the Sarasota County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she died “as a result of the alligator attack.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent a hired trapper to retrieve two alligators from the lake and euthanize them, said Adam Brown, a commission spokesman. One alligator was 8 feet 10 inches long and the other was 7 feet 7 inches long.
Alligators live throughout Florida and survive in fresh, salt and brackish waters, according to the commission, which estimates there are more than a million of the large reptiles in the state.
Alligators are “more visible and active” in the warmer months, when their metabolism increases and they search for food, Mr. Brown said. But they rarely bite humans and deaths are rare. The chance of a Florida resident being seriously injured is roughly one in 3.1 million, the commission said.
Last year, nine people in Florida were bitten by alligators in unprovoked attacks, according to commission records.
The risk of a fatal alligator attack is low compared to the likelihood of other accidental deaths in the state, according to a 2019 analysis by the University of Florida.
“Alligators are opportunistic feeders and will eat animals that are readily available to them,” the commission said. “They prefer to chase prey that they can easily overpower.”
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