Fatal alligator attacks called 'unfortunate coincidence'
Jamie Malernee
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Newsday, NY
_________
Dry weather has pushed them out of the Everglades and into backyard canals, where they concentrate in greater, hungry numbers.Mating season has made the males more territorial.
And then there are the people -- hundreds moving into Florida each day -- who have taken over what was once wildlife territory and, in some cases, are feeding the dangerous reptiles like pets.
All these factors, plus a heavy dose of coincidence, are likely to blame in the recent string of deadly alligator attacks across the state, wildlife biologists said Monday. There have been three alligator-related fatalities in the past week; before that, there had been only 17since 1948.
Allan Woodward with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission called the string "an unfortunate coincidence" and a statistical fluke. He said most alligators are not aggressive. Between 1 million and 2 million of them live in Florida, but the state usually has only about six or seven nonfatal attacks a year.
"It just happens these all happened at once," he said.
"You have a perfect combination of events that make them act in this unusual way," said Frank Mazzotti, a Fort Lauderdale wildlife scientist with the University of Florida. "I don't ever remember a time when we've had this many fatal attacks."
Officials are advising people to stop feeding alligators and to stay away from the edge of canals, especially with children or dogs.
There are no witnesses to the gator attacks, which authorities note happened in different parts of the state in apparently different situations: to a 28-year-old woman jogging near Markham Park in Sunrise May 9 when, officials say, she was attacked and pulled into the water; to a Tennessee woman attacked on Sunday while snorkeling in Juniper Run in the Ocala National Forest; and to a 43-year-old woman found dismembered Sunday in a canal in East Lake Woodlands, just north of Tampa Bay.
may 16, 2006
Jamie Malernee
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Newsday, NY
_________
Dry weather has pushed them out of the Everglades and into backyard canals, where they concentrate in greater, hungry numbers.Mating season has made the males more territorial.
And then there are the people -- hundreds moving into Florida each day -- who have taken over what was once wildlife territory and, in some cases, are feeding the dangerous reptiles like pets.
All these factors, plus a heavy dose of coincidence, are likely to blame in the recent string of deadly alligator attacks across the state, wildlife biologists said Monday. There have been three alligator-related fatalities in the past week; before that, there had been only 17since 1948.
Allan Woodward with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission called the string "an unfortunate coincidence" and a statistical fluke. He said most alligators are not aggressive. Between 1 million and 2 million of them live in Florida, but the state usually has only about six or seven nonfatal attacks a year.
"It just happens these all happened at once," he said.
"You have a perfect combination of events that make them act in this unusual way," said Frank Mazzotti, a Fort Lauderdale wildlife scientist with the University of Florida. "I don't ever remember a time when we've had this many fatal attacks."
Officials are advising people to stop feeding alligators and to stay away from the edge of canals, especially with children or dogs.
There are no witnesses to the gator attacks, which authorities note happened in different parts of the state in apparently different situations: to a 28-year-old woman jogging near Markham Park in Sunrise May 9 when, officials say, she was attacked and pulled into the water; to a Tennessee woman attacked on Sunday while snorkeling in Juniper Run in the Ocala National Forest; and to a 43-year-old woman found dismembered Sunday in a canal in East Lake Woodlands, just north of Tampa Bay.
may 16, 2006
