Tourists and social media users who interact with alligators are contributing to an increase in attacks by emboldening the reptiles and causing them to lose their natural fear of humans, according to the son of a Florida woman who lost part of her arm in a recent attack. Zach Guerrina stated that people feeding and getting too close to alligators are directly responsible for the animals becoming less wary of people.
Guerrina's mother, Dina Spann, 58, was attacked on a Saturday while floating in the Silver River in Marion County. He told the New York Post that in his lifetime of growing up in Florida and frequently being in the water, he had never experienced an alligator approaching him. However, he noted the prevalence of tourists and new Florida residents unfamiliar with the wildlife, some of whom create videos of themselves petting or getting too close to alligators.
"When you do that, these things lose fear of humans and if it gets close enough to you, it’s gonna bite you," Guerrina said. He has seen TikTok videos of people kayaking on the Silver River and getting dangerously close to alligators.
Spann was swimming in an area where swimming is prohibited when the alligator attacked. It grabbed her right arm and pulled her underwater. A nearby boater, John Gamache, heard the commotion and intervened, scaring the alligator away. Spann sustained severe injuries, including the amputation of her right arm below the elbow and the loss of at least one finger on her left hand.
Guerrina also expressed concern about the growing number of alligator encounters and attacks in Florida. He cited two other incidents in the weeks prior to his mother's attack: an 11-year-old boy who lost his hand to an alligator in Marion County in June, and a fatal attack on Brittany Clark, 31, on June 28 in the Econlockhatchee River near Orlando.
Following Spann's attack, trappers contracted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission removed a 9-foot, 8-inch alligator from the Silver River. The river was subsequently reopened to the public.
Guerrina suggested that Florida should allow for more alligator hunting to manage the population. "There’s too many gators out here," he stated. "We’ve got three people that’s been bit these last weeks –– a kid lost his hand, a girl died and now this.
"I’m not saying eradicate gators but if you’re going to put them somewhere, put them in the marsh. If you’re in spring water, you shouldn’t have to be concerned about an alligator."