Alligator attacks woman walking her dog in South Carolina

Hilton Head Island, S.C. — A South Carolina woman is recovering after being bitten by an alligator near her home in Hilton Head Island. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources spokesman David Lucas tells news outlets that it happened in the Sun City retirement community on Monday night.

Lucas says a 68-year-old woman was walking her dog about 10 p.m. near her house, which is also near several ponds. He says the 8-to-9-foot-long gator bit the woman on the wrist and leg. She was treated at the scene and later transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia.

The dog ran way during the attack and was not harmed. An alligator control agent was called in and the gator was captured and euthanized.

The attack comes almost exactly one year after an alligator killed a woman trying to protect her dog on Hilton Head Island. Cassandra Cline, 45, was walking the dog along a residential area of Sea Pines Resort when she was attacked.

Woman killed in South Carolina gator attack

In June, a man was found dead on nearby Kiawah Island after apparently being bitten by an alligator.