After a woman was killed by an alligator while she was canoeing with her husband in central Florida, questions remain on whether gator attacks are frequent in the Sunshine State.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are around 1.3 million gators in Florida and on average, there are eight unprovoked attacks each year.
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WATCH HEREBased on data obtained by the FWC, in 2024 there were 11 cases of alligators biting someone.
The most attacks by a gator in Florida in the last 30 years was in 2023 with 23 attacks. FWC said only one of those was deadly.
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Some well-known gator attacks in Florida during the last nine years include the following:
Deadly Disney Attack
In the summer of 2016, a 2-year-old child was killed in a gator attack near a Disney resort in Orlando while he was playing on the shoreline.
Local
Lane Graves was pulled into the lake while standing nearby with his father, who tried unsuccessfully to rescue the child. The boy's body was found nearly a day later following a massive search of the area.
Following Lane's death, fences and warning signs were installed to prevent other incidents. A lighthouse memorial was also created to honor Lane's memory.
Lake Jesup
Lake Jesup in Seminole County is considered to be one of the most alligator-infested bodies of water in the U.S.
In August 2020, a hunter reeled in a 12-foot gator into his boat using a harpoon. When the gator got on the boat, it bit the hunter's arm.
Due to the severity of the bite, the hunter's arm needed to be amputated below the elbow.
