Alligator attacks, kills Ms. Kanaufenahn with her husband at the lake in Florida: “He tried to fight off the gator.”

An alligator attacked a woman who had a canoeing on Tuesday afternoon with her husband in Central Florida Lake.

The attack occurred near the mouth of the Tiger Creek in the Lake Kissimmee, south of Orlando, told the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It is close to the same place as an alligator attack in March, in which a woman was bitten on the elbow during the kayaking.

At a press conference on Wednesday, FWC Maj. Evan Laskowski said that the woman was sitting in the bug in the bow of a 14-foot canoe. She and her husband were about 2.5 feet of water when the boat went over a large alligator, he said.

“The alligator hit and tipped over the canoe. Both people landed in the water,” said Laskowski. “She landed in the water on the alligator and was bitten. Her husband tried to intervene, but was unsuccessful.”

The woman, who was identified as a 61-year-old Cynthia Diekema from Davenport, Florida, was later recovered from the water and declared dead. It was not clear whether her husband was injured.

The deputies and marine units of the Sheriff from Polk County helped search and recovery.

The CBS subsidiary WKMG was received a sheriff office transmission of the incident. “Gator grabbed her from the canoe,” a representative of a sheriff is heard. “He tried to fight against the gator. We are in the last place where he saw her. He left the paddle here, where he last saw her.”

Laskowski said disturbing alligator trappers were called to the scene on Tuesday evening and they recovered two alligators. One was over 11 feet “with the length and description of the alligator, which was involved in the incident,” he said, and the second alligator was about 10 to 11 feet long.

Officials did not say whether one of the alligators would be put to sleep.

Alligator attacks in Florida

Since 1948, when the officials started tracking alligator bites with people in Florida, according to FWC data, there were 487 unprovoked bites by 2024. Of these, 339 main bites and 27 were fatal.

The latest fatal alligator attack was in February 2023 when the 85-year-old was Gloria Serge killed as you go for a walk with your dog Beams said along a community pond in Fort Pierce. At the beginning of this year, a 23-year-old man lost his arm in an attack near a pond behind a bar in Port Charlotte.

Alligator encounters with people are more common in the spring pairing time when they are most active, said Young. In Florida there are an estimated 1.3 million alligators.

“While alligator attacks that lead to deaths are extremely rare, this tragedy serves as a dark memory of the mighty wild animals that share our natural rooms,” said Roger Young, the FWC Managing Director. “Be careful with your surroundings. You know which wild animals are in the area.”

The alligator attack comes as a FWC officer continues to examine a rare one fatal black bear Attack on Monday that took the life of 89-year-old Robert Markel and his dog near his house in Collier County in the southwest of Florida. Have wild animal officers Three bears killed in the area since the attack.

The FWC plans public hearings about whether they should hold a black bear hunting later this year in parts of Florida.

The agency manages a nationwide disturbing alligator program (SNAP) to remove alligators, which is assumed that they are a threat to humans, pets or property.

The FWC says that people there should consider this advice there and everywhere:

• Keep a safe distance when you see an alligator.
• Hold pets on a leash and far from the edge of the water. Pets often resemble the natural prey of alligators.
• Only swim in designated swimming areas in daylight and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
• Never feed an alligator. It is illegal and dangerous. When feeding, alligators can lose their natural caution and instead learn to combine people with the availability of food. This can lead to an alligator becoming an annoyance and has to be removed from the wilderness.

John Maclauchlan contributed to this report.