Alligator Mauls Man Trying To Hunt Reptiles, Suffers Serious Limb Injury

A 30-year-old man was mauled by an alligator while he was hunting for the reptiles in the Three Fork Marsh Conservation area west of Palm Bay in Florida. The incident took place Saturday and the victim remained hospitalized as of Sunday.

According to local reports, the alligator badly bit the man on his hand and arm. The man was left with a mangled limb and was rushed to a hospital. The victim was spotted by Palm Bay police who arrived at the scene, which was a darkened area off of the west end of Malabar Road. Before being sent to the hospital, officers tried to apply a tourniquet to the man's arm to help prevent further blood loss.

"We responded there to assist Florida Fish and Wildlife. It’s a non-life threatening but a very serious limb injury,” Lt. Mike Smith, a watch commander with the Palm Bay Police Department, said. "He was on a personal Jon boat. There were at least two people on the boat."

The victim was transported to Heritage High School, just off of Malabar Road, and airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center for further treatment. Florida Fish and Wildlife authorities said the alligator was being brought to the side of the boat when the attack took place, Florida Today reported.

"They were attempting to retrieve the alligator when it bit him," Lt. Chad Weber of Florida Fish and Wildlife said, adding that the alligator was released and the men rode back to shore.

This was the second incident of an alligator attack in Florida in the last three months. In another incident, a woman suffered "significant" bite injuries from an 8-foot alligator that was missing two-feet of its tail from a previous fight. That incident happened in Port St. John, west of Fay Lake Wilderness Park.

Residents were cautioned that alligators could be present in lakes, ponds or canals. The alligator hunting season began Aug. 15. Alligator sightings are very uncommon in Florida neighborhoods.