A man from Florida (USA) was “seriously injured” and had to be transported to a local hospital after being attacked by an alligator, local media reported Thursday.
The event occurred Wednesday afternoon in Manatee County, on the west coast of the state, when Eric Merda, 43,was attacked by an alligator at a camping area, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The victim had to be transported to a local hospital due to “a serious injury to his arm,” said the state agency, which did not give more details about the event and He added that he sent a hunter to the area.
The attack comes after an elderly woman from Englewood, on Florida’s southwest coast, who fell into a pond died last week after being attacked by two alligators.
The two animals responsible for the death of 80-year-old Rose Wiegand were later euthanized by FWC officials.
According to a witness, the woman accidentally fell into a pond on the golf course, near her home.
According to FWC data on human-alligator interaction, since 1948 there have been records of more than 20 documented cases of deaths of people due to attacks by these reptiles in Florida.
The state of Florida has a population of alligators that is currently estimated at 1.3 million specimens of all sizes and distributed throughout the 67 counties of this territory in the southeastern United States.