SEMINOLE, Fla. -- Deputies in Orlando have ended their search for a person seen going under water in a retention pond. They found a woman’s body after what was first reported as an alligator attack.
However, investigators say there were no signs of an alligator attack on the body.
In fact, alligator attacks are relatively uncommon in Florida. Since 1948, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says there have been only about 400 unprovoked gator attacks in Florida.
From 2007 to 2017, there were only three deadly alligator attacks in Florida. In all of last year, there were 12 attacks total.
Since FWC has been keeping records in 1948, just 24 people have died because of an unprovoked alligator attack.
“You have a better chance of, if you're a skydiver, your chute not opening, or getting wrecked in a car,” said Vernon Yates, founder of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Seminole.
Yates said the most important thing to remember around alligators is to use common sense. Don’t bother them. Don’t feed them (it’s illegal). But, he said, if you see one, don’t worry too much.
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