85-year-old woman killed by alligator in Florida
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on February 21, 2023
(PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.) — An 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator in Florida on Monday, according to state wildlife officials.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an alligator bite in St. Lucie County, Florida.
Officials recovered the woman’s body and the alligator was captured by a nuisance alligator trapper, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of the victim,” a representative for the agency said in a statement.
According to the FWC, serious injuries that stem from alligators are rare in the state.
The St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office and Florida and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
On Sunday, a 4-foot-long alligator was removed from a lake at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, city officials said.
According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the alligator was “very lethargic and possibly cold shocked since it is native to warm, tropical climates.”
In August, an 88-year-old woman was killed in an apparent alligator attack in South Carolina when she was gardening near a pond in Sun City Hilton Head, an adult-only community, and slipped in, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Natural Resources.
Officials said that the alligator, a 9-foot, 8-inch male, was euthanized.
Another elderly woman in Florida was killed in July after she fell into a pond and was attacked by two alligators, authorities said.
Alligators are active during spring and summer because when temperatures rise, their metabolism increases and they look for food, a spokesperson for FWC told ABC News last year.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
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