Risk and mitigation of injury to people by alligators in Alachua County Florida.
James P. Ross PhD Rocky Point Consulting llc.
1807 SW 63rd Ave Gainesville FL 32608, [email protected]
8 July 2016
Executive summary
Twenty four county parks and preserves in or adjacent to alligator habitat are evaluated for risk
that people could be injured by alligators. Alligators are everywhere and all parks and preserves
(indeed all water bodies in Florida) have some risk of alligator attack. Some parks combine
factors of abundant populations of larger alligators, frequent use by people that puts them at risk
in or near the water, and the absence of any separation between alligators and people, to make
these localities potentially more hazardous.
The basic foundation of reducing the risk of alligator attack on people is to keep the alligators
and the people separated. Methods to achieve this include informing and educating people to
behave appropriately; manipulating the habitat to provide separation; and manipulating the
numbers, size and behavior of alligators. Of these, the first is most effective. The basic message
for appropriate behavior to avoid injuries by alligators is:
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Be aware of the possibility of alligator presence.
Minimize your exposure in the water or at the water’s edge.
Be vigilant, particularly with children and pets.
A suite of options to reduce the risk of injury by alligators is presented including:
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A multi-media information/education program, extending beyond signage to effective
modern media methods and integrated among all local jurisdictions (county,
municipalities, state agencies).
Development of a readily recognizable ‘look’ or ‘brand’ for alligator safety to be
displayed on signage, brochures, websites, media sites, informational materials, videos
etc.
Manipulate habitat in parks to improve separation between alligators and people.
Appropriate management of alligators in county water bodies, including where necessary,
removal of some alligators.
Introduction.
The recent taking by an alligator of a 2 year old child from a public water body in central Florida
has raised concerns about the risk of such attacks in publically managed water bodies in Alachua
County and how that risk can be reduced. This consultant was engaged to rapidly review the
situation in 24 County managed public parks in Alachua County and propose action for
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consideration by County Staff and Commissioners. This is a preliminary report to give a
foundation for informed discussion and future action.
Attacks by American alligators on humans are extremely rare, just 186 reported cases in 56 years
since 1960 in the US of which 28 (15%) were fatal (24 of these in Florida).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_alligator_attacks--, http://www.crocodile-attack.info/).
Globally, approximately 280 attacks by large crocodiles/year are reported and over1000
suspected annually (data collection is very incomplete in less developed countries).
Approximately half of all attacks worldwide are fatal, although the estimate for alligators is less
(data 1995-2015 from http://www.crocodile-attack.info ). There is widespread interest and
substantial information and guidance available on this topic. Themes, ideas and
recommendations from national and international sources are provided where they are
appropriate to Alachua County.
Alligators are stealthy predators that usually take their prey, most commonly fish, in the water.
However larger alligators extend their diet to birds and mammals (including raccoons, deer, pigs,
calves and rarely people) that they capture in the water or at the water’s edge. Their usual
technique is to lie still or approach stealthily, then capture prey with a very fast lunge and snap.
Alligators routinely take prey smaller than themselves so that only specimens greater than 6-8
feet length are likely to prey on people and larger gators are more dangerous. Alligators do not
usually capture prey out of the water, but will snap, bite or strike with their tail, if approached
too closely. Therefore, avoiding injury from alligators is a simple matter of not being in the
water or approaching alligators too closely.
This preliminary review sought to evaluate the Public parks of Alachua County that contain or
are adjacent to waterbodies and analyse:
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The relative abundance of alligators in the water body.
Activities conducted by the public that might expose them to risk from alligators.
Physical characteristics of the site that increased or decreased risk, especially those that
might be modified.
Additionally this report offers examples of actions that might increase public awareness and
decrease the risk of alligator attack.
Methods.
Each Park listed (Table 1.) was evaluated based upon on-line information
(http://www.alachuacounty.us/depts/pw/parksandrecreation/Pages/ParksList.aspx), public
website and geographic map information, Google Earth and the consultant’s personal familiarity
with the area and many of the parks. Published and research information regarding alligators for
water bodies in Alachua County were consulted and where useful incorporated into the results.
Models for public information about alligators in different locations were reviewed.
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Results
Twenty four county properties (Parks and Alachua Forever Preserves) that contain or are
adjacent to water bodies were reviewed. Alligators were considered to be present by default at
any of them. Alligators are known to travel considerable distances (10km +), travel overland and
use very small bodies of water. Therefore any water body in Alachua County might have an
alligator present. However, surveys by FWC and others indicate that three interconnected water
bodies, Orange, Lochloosa and Newnan’s lakes are known to contain a large population and
many larger size individual alligators. Alligators are also known to be present in moderate
numbers in most of the areas other lakes (e.g., Lake Santa Fe, Lake Alto, Watermelon Pond) and
the Santa Fe river downstream of Oleno State park. Parks were evaluated on the number and
size of alligators thought to be present, the degree to which public activities might bring people
and alligators into contact and any physical attributes of the site that might increase or decrease
risk. Factors bringing people and alligators into contact include swimming, picnic areas close to
the water, attractive clean water for swimming or wading, popular bankside fishing. Physical
factors that might affect risk include barriers (fencing), steep banks, heavily vegetated banks,
existing boardwalks and raised docks. Each factor was scored on a three points score for low +,
moderate++ and high+++ and the scores added to give a very rough idea of relative risk. The
results are summarized in Table 1 below.
Any of the County’s parks has some risk of injury to people by alligators. These risks appear
potentially highest at those parks next to large alligator populations, where people engage in
activities in the water or at the water side and where there are few or no physical barriers
between people and alligators. The highest risk evaluations were for Marjorie Kinan Rawlins
and Lochloosa boat ramp, Earl Powers and Owen Illinois parks on Newnan’s Lake, Newnans
Conservation area, Sweetwater preserve, Lake Alto Park and the Santa Fe Odum canoe landing.
However, it must be emphasized that these are approximate and relative evaluations and that any
park has some risk. Specific risk factors include the proximity of MKR park to the MKR house
that attracts many visitors, the frequent bank fishing at the Newnan’s Lake properties and the
attractive nature of sand beaches and access at Lake Santa Fe and Lake Alto.
Poe Springs is an interesting situation of very high public use for swimming and known
alligators in the nearby Santa Fe River. However alligators are rarely if ever seen in the spring
or spring run, possibly because the low water temperature and very high levels of human
disturbance are unattractive to alligators. It was noteworthy that, at the time of this examination
only one park, Barr Hammock, has any signage regarding alligators visible to this review and
that most clearly have none. This in contrast to the city Sweetwater Restoration Park and Paynes
Prairie Preserve which have abundant signage.
.
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AFP
Park
Park
Park
AFP
Park
Park
AFP
Park
Park
Park
Park
AFP
AFP
AFP
AFP
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
Alligator status
Common ++
Abundant lg sizes +++
Abundant lg sizes +++
Present +
Present +
Abundant lg sizes +++
Abundant lg sizes +++
Common ++
Common ++
Present +
Present +
Common ++
Common++
Present +
Present +?
Present +
Present +
Present +
Present +
Present +
Present +
Public exposure?swimming, Wading,
close bank
approach
Moderate ++
High +++
High +++
Low +
Low +
High +++
High +++
Moderate ++
Moderate ++
High +++
Moderate ++
High +++
Low +
High +++
Low +
Low +
High +++
Moderate ++
Low +
Moderate ++
Low +
Structural protection?
fences, boardwalks,
steep banks, clear
water
Yes +
No +++
No +++
No +++
No +++
No +++
Some ++
No +++
No +++
Some ++
No +++
Some ++
Yes +
No +++
Some ++
Yes +
Yes +
Some ++
No +++
Some ++
None +++
5
9
9
5
5
9
8
7
7
6
6
7
4
7
4
3
5
5
5
5
6
Park
Park
AFP
Present +
Common ++
Common ++
Low +
Moderate ++
Low +
None +++
No +++
No +++
5
7
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Table 1 County parks evaluated for
alligator risk.
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Barr Hammock
Majorie Kinnan Rawlins
Lochloosa
Holden Park
Phifer Flatwoods
Owens Illinois
Earl Powers
Newnans Conservation Area
Sweetwater Preserve
Santa Fe lake
Melrose Boat tramp
Lake Alto Park
Lake Alto Preserve
Santa Fe Odum preserve
Mill Creek
Santa Fe Camp Kulaqua
Poe Spring
McCall Park
High Springs Boat Ramp
Kanapa Botanical garden
Lake Kanapa
Veterans memorial Chapman
22 Pond
23 Watermelon Pond
24 Watermelon Pond preserve
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Improving public safety in regard to alligators at public waterside parks.
Reducing the incidence of attacks by alligators on people has one simple core theme:People and alligators must not come into contact!.
As alligators spend nearly all their time, and take nearly all their prey in the water, keeping
people out of the water where alligators may occur is the basic rule to follow. There are three
broad areas of action to achieve this:
1. Changing the behavior of people (education, signage, messaging, enforcement etc.)
2. Manipulating the physical situation to keep people and alligators apart (barriers, fencing,
habitat management, board walks etc.)
3. Changing the abundance, size distribution and behavior of alligators (nuisance control,
harvesting, hazing, regulated hunting etc.).
These are presented in order of likely effectiveness and ease of application and discussed
separately below. An integrated program involving elements of all three is probably the optimal
solution.
Changing the behavior of people. There are two elements of behavior that are advantageous to
affect- people’s knowledge regarding the presence of alligators and their caution and vigilance in
placing themselves in the water and at risk. It appears true worldwide that people who are aware
of alligator/crocodile presence and danger, and vigilant to this risk, are much less likely to be
victims of attack. An analogy might be traffic on a busy road- you know there is a danger, you
watch for hazards, you don’t walk in the street, you don’t let the kids play in or near the street,
you use signs to regulate motorists. In combination these actions reduce the risk of pedestrian
motor fatality, and people do not excessively fear streets or motor vehicles although the risk from
traffic is much higher than the probability of injury by an alligator.
There is also a great deal of research indicating that a single sign, brochure or message is a very
ineffective way to change behavior. We should NOT expect erecting signs at parks will solve
this problem or eliminate the risk of attack. Therefore the following suite of options are offered:
Education-Information to minimize alligator attack risk.
 Develop an integrated program of information using multiple media to advise the public
(residents and visitors) about alligators and how to avoid risk of injury. Elements of such
a program might include:
o On-site signage
o On-site information (posters, kiosks)
o On site social media App access/QR codes
o Mobile device accessible short video (e.g. see examples cited below).
o Website information
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o Social media outreach on alligator safety.
o Brochures- see available materials from FWC ‘Living with alligators’.
o ‘Branding’ of alligator safety message on other Park materials (signs, maps,
guides etc.)
o Outreach to potential user groups, residents, schools and social groups, churches.
Use a very simple message- Alligators present, Be vigilant, Keep out of the water.
Coordinate the alligator awareness program among all local interests and jurisdictions to
ensure consistency of approach and message. Additionally, elements of a coordinated
program administered by different entities will reinforce each other.
Develop consistent, easily recognizable motifs, images and ‘brand’ so that the alligator
safety messaging is readily recognized in all its forms and media.
Use internationally recognized symbols and non-verbal visual images. Among these the
red circle/cross through for ‘Prohibited/Do not—
Yellow background/black image for warning--
Examples of signage in current use are offered in attachment 1 of this report.
The objective of such a program is that the public immediately recognize alligator warning signs
wherever they see them and understand and believe the message supporting the signage.
Managing the physical situation to minimize alligator attack risk.
Natural and artificial barriers can impede the access of alligators to the shoreline near people and
impede the access of people to the water and alligators. In many situations in the county’s parks
the physical environment is not conducive to most people entering the water (muddy, vegetated,
unattractive, murky water) or the usual activities of people do not place them routinely in or near
the water. Steep banks, inaccessible shorelines, fringing aquatic woody vegetation (willows,
cypress etc.) all serve as natural barriers and should be maintained appropriately. Unfortunately,
in several parks, particular settings are attractive to both people and alligators- e.g. open waterside pathways that provide easy access and views to people and comfortable basking sites for
alligators- these are areas of potential hazard and deserve special attention for signage and
habitat alteration to ensure alligators and people are kept apart, these might include:
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Barrier fencing to impede people, low bars (similar to highway crash bars) to impede
alligators.
Constructed steep banks and concrete revetments to exclude alligators (e.g. US 441
crossing of Paynes Prairie).
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Raised boardwalks e.g., La Chua Trail, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.
In-water enclosures for safe swimming.
Fortunately, the distance of separation required for safety is modest- most alligators cannot easily
pass a vertical barrier of 3 feet and a separation of 10-20 feet between alligators and people is an
adequate distance. Barriers with a small overhang prevent most alligators climbing over. The
minimum safe separation to approach an alligator is the length of its body (or default to largest
reported alligators = 14feet).
Unfortunately the best signs and barriers do not prevent a few people from foolishly ignoring the
warnings and placing themselves at risk. The widespread popularity of cell phone cameras and
‘selfies’ and sensational alligator TV shows has exacerbated this problem. In locations where the
risks are evaluated to be high (e.g. abundant alligator populations and many large alligators,
heavy public use, widespread situations where people and alligators might come into contact,
hazardous activity by people e.g. swimming) it might be cost effective to develop more staff
intensive capacity including:
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On site personnel, staff, volunteers, safety wardens.( e.g. already exists at Poe Springs)
Prompt enforcement of limitations on approaching alligators. State law prohibits the
harassment or injury of alligators, and misdemeanor prosecution is possible, but rarely
successful in court. A more gentle regulatory approach is likely to be more productive.
Training for staff, volunteers on alligator management techniques
Contingency planning for attack scenario response- who to respond, who to call,
equipment on site.
Changing the abundance, size distribution and behavior of alligators.
Regrettably, alligators do not read or respond to signs and brochures, however they do
demonstrate quite advanced capacity for learned behavior. They also have a robust life history
and reproductive capacity that enables them to survive and even increase in the face of quite
large levels of harvest or removal. Therefore, an option at any site is to use the available
mechanisms for ‘nuisance alligator’ removal for public safety and reduce the total number and
number of larger specimens present. Nuisance alligator removal is managed by the FWC
through private contractors and programs targeting areas deemed high risk can be developed in
conjunction with them. It should be clear that nuisance alligators are, by law, killed on removal
and the carcasses legally sold for meat and skin by the contractors. Public perceptions and
expectations of this reality need to be managed with some care.
It is also possible to manipulate the habitat in ways that encourage alligators to use alternative
locations away from people. There are experimental attempts to make alligators more wary of
people by hazing (harassing) them, providing alternate basking sites or by application of legal
regulated hunting. Therefore a suite of options for changing the alligator population are
available and should be considered:
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Feeding alligators, either deliberately or accidently (e.g. by disposal of fish waste,
bait, cleaning etc.) should be very actively discouraged.
Nuisance alligator removal- coordinated with FWC and contract trappers to target
sizes and numbers.
Opening of selected water bodies to the regulated legal state alligator hunt.
Alteration of shoreline habitat;
o Reducing attractive open, sunny basking areas near people.
o Creating alternative attractive sunny basking areas distant from people e.g.
mowing distant banks, creating unwooded islands.
Regularly hazing or harassing alligators that approach public areas. This can be done
by trained staff and can involve throwing stones, shouting, approach and tap with a
long pole. This still experimental technique should only be attempted by expert
personnel and evaluated for effectiveness.
Some additional concerns not treated above are covered here.
Boat launching. A number of the county sites are boat ramps where people regularly launch
boats. There is no record I am aware of, of a person being attacked while launching a boat. It
seems likely that this rather noisy, vigorous activity is not attractive to alligators even though
people may be briefly in the shallow water manipulating boats and trailers. Prominent signage
reminding boaters of alligator presence and the need for vigilance is suggested.
Canoes and kayaks. There are a number of reports of alligators and other crocodiles attacking
canoes and kayaks and people wading with canoes in shallow water, including one fatal attack in
Florida. Therefore canoe launch sites and rest stops should be considered hazardous and
appropriate warning signs and other measures taken.
Restricting people’s time of access. Most county parks are closed from sunset until dawn.
While alligator attacks can and have occurred at any time of day or night, alligator activity,
feeding and reported attacks are more frequent in the dark hours (dusk, night, somewhat less so
in the early dawn when water and air temperatures and alligator activity are often lower).
Maintaining and enforcing these time restrictions are valuable risk reduction actions.
Figure 1 attempts to show in a schematic fashion an integrated approach to changing people’s
behavior (both visitors and residents). At the actual site of potential hazards- clear concise signs
with readily recognized messages. However, these are backed up and reinforced by an
underpinning of more detailed site information, site management, and a widespread educationpublic media program so that the message of signs is well understood and based on a foundation
of information and knowledge.
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Figure 1. A schematic approach to promoting alligator safety. See examples following.
Co-existence
WARNINGS
Brief effective signs at hazard
locations
PHYSICAL SEPARATION
Barriers, fencing, vegetation
management, bank grading
INFORMATION
Content rich on-site information signs
QR codes and brochures
EDUCATION
Widespread, attitude changing, dispersed, not site or time limited,
multimedia, video, schools, website,
Examples of simple video information messages used elsewhere can be seen at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DoAigtIkGI&list=PLvzNtphHxtRxRA6WswVexlevYtqKbIvlu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMJXvsCLu6s&feature=youtu.be
Similar material, culturally appropriate for Alachua County, could be developed.
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Attachment/Appendix 1 sample signs and messages.
In-situ warning signs Paynes Prairie State Park
Warning sign Sweetwater Restoration Park
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Informational signs
Information sign detail- note included warnings
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Habitat manipulation
Board walk, Paynes Prairie
Board walk, Sweetwater Restoration Park
Bank- path separation 25’+ Sweetwater Restoration Park
Fencing installed to separate people and alligators, Paynes Prairie.
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