A 61-year-old Davenport woman, Cynthia Diekema, was killed Tuesday, May 6, while canoeing with her husband at Lake Kissimmee State Park.
According to FWC officials, while in water that was about 2 1/2 feet deep, the couple’s canoe passed over a large alligator, prompting it to thrash and capsize the canoe, throwing the couple into the water.
Wildlife officials believe the gator's thrash was "defensive" and do not believe the gator was provoked by the couple.
"This was not believed to be a predatory incident, but just simply an incident, of a defensive incident where they came upon the alligator, beneath the water's edge," FWC Public Information Officer Bradley Johnson said. "And when the canoe struck it, it caused a reaction."
The woman reportedly landed on top of the alligator and was bitten. She was later found dead.
Her body was spotted from a helicopter, an FWC official said.
The woman was killed on Lake Kissimmee, near the mouth of Tiger Creek, officials said.
The Florida Fish and Wildfire Conservation Commission lists Lake Kissimmee as a Florida lake with the second highest population of alligators in the state.
This is the 27th recorded fatal alligator attack in Florida since 1948.
What, alligators and bears, oh my! Has nature gone Rambo?
ReplyDeleteI read about something the other day, another animal attack in Florida, and I couldn't find it. It's getting crowded here in Florida. We need to build a wall. The tourists and the retirees are crowding the wildlife into smaller and smaller areas.
DeleteI finally saw the article I was thinking about the other day, but it wasn't a death in Florida due to a wild animal attack. It was the first bison attack of the 2025 year in Yellowstone NP, WY. It was a Florida man though and he did survive. He got too close. He should have read the UF report on how to avoid getting maimed or killed by wild animals ... stay away from the wild animals.
Delete