The Dead Body Count for The Most Feared Apex Predator in Texas Will Surprise You

With nearly half a million alligators residing in Texas, you’d think there would be a lot of people that have died from an attack, right?

Right?

Well....the actual number might surprise you.

There are gators in Texas?

In case you didn’t know, Texas has the third largest alligator population in the United States. There are between 400,000 and 500,000 of them residing all across the coast and inland up to around Dallas.

Despite how many of them there are, attacks are really quite rare. Fatalities due to an attack are even rarer.

When was the last deadly attack?

The last person to have been killed by an alligator in Texas was in 2015. A 28-year-old man got in the water with an 11 foot gator, reportedly taunting it and ignoring warning signs posted about the alligator near the body of water.

This was the first fatal attack since 1836, which is the year the Alamo fell to Mexican forces.

179 years of peace

After nearly 200 years of no gator related deaths, it seems like a pretty easy fate to avoid. Simply avoid bodies of water that have gators, don’t taunt them, and generally keep your distance.

Compared to Florida, we have a great record. They have had 30 fatal alligator attacks since 1948, but they also have around three times as many alligators as we do.

The most shocking thing is that Louisiana, the state with the most gators (approximately 2,000,000), has had zero fatalities from alligator attacks. They have two bites on record but no deaths. Maybe it all just comes down to respecting the animal’s space and keeping your distance.