Alligator mauls pensioner to death while she was walking her dog

5 July 2023, 09:35 | Updated: 5 July 2023, 09:37

A woman in her 60s has been killed by an alligator while out walking her dog.

The horrifying attack too place on Hilton Head Island, on the coast of the US state of South Carolina on Tuesday.

The alligator seemed to be guarding the woman, 69, after it attacked her, preventing emergency services staff from recovering the body for some time.

The attack took place by a lagoon on the edge of the golf course.

Rescuers eventually managed to move the alligator before recovering the woman's body.

Read more: Terrifying moment woman, 85, is dragged to her death by an alligator as she tried to rescue her dog

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Her dog emerged unscathed, said Major Angela Viens, a spokesperson for Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

This is the second fatal alligator attack in the county over the past year.

An 88-year-old woman was killed at a lagoon near her home in Sun City in August 2022.

Alligators are only native to the south-east US and China. Most of the alligators in the US are in Florida and Louisiana, with a million in each state.

Earlier this year in Florida an elderly woman was dragged to her death by an alligator that was trying to eat her dog.

The alligator lunged at Gloria Serge, 85, and her dog Trooper after stalking them at the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in Fort Pierce, Florida on February 24, 2023.

The alligator stalked the dog from several metres away across a body of water before lunging, with Gloria frantically trying to protect her beloved pet.

A neighbour called 911 but Gloria was mauled to death as she tried to spare her pet from being killed by the alligator.