In a tragic incident on Tuesday morning, a woman lost her life in an alligator attack while walking her dog in South Carolina. This marks the second fatal alligator attack in Beaufort County in less than a year. Authorities responded to a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon bordering a golf course in the Spanish Wells community on Hilton Head Island. The woman, a 69-year-old resident of the community, was found unresponsive at the edge of the lagoon. Efforts to rescue her were hindered by an alligator that appeared and guarded her, but it was eventually removed and the woman’s body was recovered.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office claims that the woman was attacked by the alligator while walking her dog earlier that morning. It remains unclear if the dog was injured in the attack. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has dispatched biologists and officers to investigate the incident.
This tragic incident comes less than a year after another woman was fatally attacked by an alligator in Beaufort County. In August of last year, an 88-year-old woman was killed by an alligator near her home in Sun City. Fatal alligator attacks in South Carolina have become more frequent in recent years. In 2020, a 58-year-old woman was fatally attacked on Kiawah Island, leading to the alligator being shot and killed by deputies. In 2019, a man was found dead on Kiawah Island with suspected alligator bite marks, although the cause of death was unclear. Prior to these incidents, South Carolina had never recorded a person being fatally attacked by an alligator.
South Carolina has seen a rise in alligator attacks in recent years, with several tragic incidents occurring that have raised safety concerns in the local area.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has been working to manage the alligator population and educate the public about safety measures. They advise people to be cautious around bodies of water, especially in areas known to have alligators.