An alligator attacked and killed a woman who was canoeing with her husband on a central Florida lake Tuesday afternoon, authorities said, after her spouse tried unsuccessfuly to fight off the predator.

The attack occurred near the mouth of Tiger Creek into Lake Kissimmee, south of Orlando, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.  It’s near the same location as a March alligator attack in which a woman was bitten on the elbow while kayaking.

At a news conference Wednesday, FWC Maj. Evan Laskowski said the woman was sitting in the bow of a 14-foot canoe when the attack happened. She and her husband were in about 2.5 feet of water when the boat passed over a large alligator, he said.

“The alligator thrashed and tipped the canoe over. Both individuals ended up in the water,” Laskowski said. “She ended up on top of the alligator in the water and was bitten. Her husband attempted to intervene but was unsuccessful.”

The woman, who was identified as 61-year-old Cynthia Diekema of Davenport, Florida, was later recovered from the water and declared dead.  It wasn’t clear if her husband was injured.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies and marine units assisted with the search and recovery. 

A sheriff’s office radio transmission of the incident was obtained by CBS affiliate WKMG. “Gator grabbed her out of the canoe,” a sheriff’s deputy can be heard saying. “He tried to fight the gator off. We’re at the last place he saw her. He left the paddle here where he last saw her at.” 

Laskowski said nuisance alligator trappers were called to the scene Tuesday night, and they recovered two alligators. One was over 11 feet long “matching the length and description of the alligator involved in the incident,” he said, and the second alligator was approximately 10 to 11 feet long.

Officials did not say if either of the alligators would be euthanized.

Alligator attacks in Florida

Since 1948, when officials began tracking alligator bites involving people in Florida, there have been 487 unprovoked bites through 2024, according to FWC data. Of those, 339 were major bites and 27 were fatal.

The most recent fatal alligator attack was in February 2023 when 85-year-old Gloria Serge was killed while walking her dog along a community pond in Fort Pierce, officials said. Earlier that year, a 23-year-old man lost his arm in an attack near a pond behind a bar in Port Charlotte.

Alligator encounters with humans are more common in the spring mating season when they are most active, Young said. There are an estimated 1.3 million alligators in Florida.

“While alligator attacks resulting in fatalities are extremely rare, this tragedy serves as a somber reminder of the powerful wildlife that share our natural spaces,” said Roger Young, the FWC executive director. “Be cautious of your surroundings. Know what wildlife is in the area.”

The alligator attack comes as FWC officials continue to investigate a rare fatal black bear attack Monday that took the life of 89-year-old Robert Markel and his dog near his home in Collier County, in southwest Florida. Wildlife officers have killed three bears in the area since the attack.

The FWC plans public hearings on whether to hold a black bear hunt in parts of Florida later this year.

The agency administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to remove alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.

The FWC says people there and everywhere should heed this advice:

• Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator.
• Keep pets on a leash and away from the water’s edge. Pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey. 
• Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn. 
• Never feed an alligator. It’s illegal and dangerous. When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food. This can lead to an alligator becoming a nuisance and needing to be removed from the wild.

John MacLauchlan

contributed to this report.