News Forum - Florida’s jaws-dropping discovery: Alligator spotted with human body in its jaws

[Thaiger]

A shocking incident unfolded in Florida, USA, when a large 4-metre alligator was spotted carrying what appeared to be a human corpse in its mouth. The victim has been identified as a 41 year old homeless woman. The incident was reported in Largo, Tampa Bay when a local man noticed the massive alligator near a … …

The story Florida’s jaws-dropping discovery: Alligator spotted with human body in its jaws as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Karolyn]

They scavenge man as do other carnivores, but alligators are not man eaters. I can't think of any incident, in which a human was killed and eaten by an alligator, despite their maxumum size, probably because very big alligators are rare. They are certainly capable of killing humans. But they never kill humans to eat. Maybe their skulls aren't as up to the task of macropredaton, as are those of crocodiles. Whereas crocodiles take prey to the size of giraffes, gators don't habitually bring down anything very large.

[Grumpish]

1 hour ago, Karolyn said:

They scavenge man as do other carnivores, but alligators are not man eaters. I can't think of any incident, in which a human was killed and eaten by an alligator, despite their maxumum size, probably because very big alligators are rare. They are certainly capable of killing humans. But they never kill humans to eat. Maybe their skulls aren't as up to the task of macropredaton, as are those of crocodiles. Whereas crocodiles take prey to the size of giraffes, gators don't habitually bring down anything very large.

Alligators can and do kill humans - 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_alligator_attacks_in_the_United_States

[Karolyn]

2 hours ago, Grumpish said:

Alligators can and do kill humans - 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_alligator_attacks_in_the_United_States

I've never heard of a predatory attack, though. As with bears, the element of hunting humans is not there. Scavenger bites are known, in fact, well known. As are attacks leading to rare fatalities. But despite how common Ametican/Mississippi alligators are, often living in close proximity to man, they simply don't kill humans for food, as would a broad snouted crocodylid that size. In fact even big gators, only rarely prey on adult cervids and feral pigs, usually Odocoileus, a sort of roebuck analog native in North America.