Gator attacks on humans on the rise in Florida
Print Edition
AT a small outdoor amphitheater in the Florida swamp, about 50 tourists gawk at the spectacle center stage: a man placing his head between the massive jaws of an alligator.
Later, patrons at the Everglades Alligator Farm — one of many Florida establishments featuring gator shows — get a chance to cradle a baby gator, which is passed excitedly between sweaty hands, amid a barrage of selfies.
“My husband is a big fan of reptiles, so while we were in Florida, we simply had to make a stop at a wildlife reserve,” said Emilia Armendariz, 34, a visitor from Ecuador.
Florida, famed for its sandy beaches, is almost as well known for its alligators, an iconic symbol of the swamp-filled southeastern US state that is the natural habitat for the fearsome reptiles.
Humans are not their favorite meal, but you wouldn’t know that from the recent series of alarming gator attacks on people. The most recent incident — the death of a 2-year-old boy in an attack last month at a Disney World resort in Orlando — made headlines around the world.
The reptile snatched the child as he frolicked at the edge of a man-made lake, and his father was unable to free him from the animal’s grip. The toddler’s body was found the next day.
Ron Magill, spokesman for the Miami Zoo and animal behavior expert, says that humans and gators increasingly find themselves vying for the same territory.
“I think we’re probably having more incidents between alligators and humans because there are more alligators, there are more humans, and humans are now building into alligator habitat,” Magill said.
By the 1970s, the alligator population in Florida had dwindled to just several thousand, and the reptiles were classified as an endangered species, Magill said.
Today, thanks to conservation efforts, they number some 1.3 million. At the same time, the human population has also increased, rising 7.8 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the US Census Bureau, from 18.8 million to 20.3 million.
The human population growth has forced the reptiles to be more resourceful as their habitat is encroached upon.
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