Both are majestic, but in terms of safety, we’re lucky we have many more alligators in the United States than we do crocodiles.
I note this in light of the woman in South Carolina who was attacked by an alligator on Tuesday. Fortunately, the lady was only injured. That’s the general rule of fatal alligator attacks: relative to population size, they are relatively rare.
As with crocodile attacks, fatal alligator attacks tend to occur when individuals are ambushed and then drowned while walking alongside lakes. The difference is that alligators, generally, are significantly less aggressive toward humans than are crocodiles. The Nile and saltwater crocodiles are collectively responsible for hundreds of human deaths each year. The American crocodile in South Florida is also less aggressive than other crocodile species.
There’s also a significant size and power differential between crocodiles and alligators. This is perhaps best encapsulated by the greater lethality of saltwater crocodile attacks in economically developed nations such as Australia (where most residents are aware of the risks of bathing in crocodile-inhabited waterways), and alligator attacks in the U.S. Saltwater crocodiles are also capable of launching themselves out of the water and seizing humans out of boats.
Americans also benefit from a more economically developed society. In contrast to many of those living in Africa and the Indo-Pacific, Americans do not need to wade into alligator-infested waters in order to fish or cultivate crops for survival. That obviously means we are less vulnerable to attacks.
In short, you need not fear alligators as much as you should fear crocodiles.
