A 71-year-old man has been killed by an alligator while fishing in a park in central Florida, police have said.

The man was fishing near Lake Apopka in the town of Winter Garden when the 3.7m (12ft) alligator came up to the shoreline and attacked him, police captain Michael Mason said on Friday night.

The attack happened at around 17:00 local time (22:00 BST) on Friday in Dr Bradford Memorial Park, a few miles west of Orlando.

Alligator attacks in Florida are relatively rare, despite a population of about 1.3 million across the state, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

“Lake Apopka has tonnes of alligators in it, so that’s not uncommon to see alligators in this part of town at all,” Mason said.

The alligator was “removed as a danger to the public” and “dispatched” by trappers, he said.

“Always be aware of your surroundings, always be safe. Local wildlife – respect it, keep your distance,” Mason said. “It looks like it’s docile, it looks like your Florida emblem, but it can be dangerous."

After attacking the man on shoreline, the alligator then dragged him into the water, the FWC said, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

The attack is the second alligator death in Florida this year, after a 31-year-old woman was killed in June while swimming with her friends near Orlando.

Alligators are a common site in many parts of Florida, particularly in and around lakes, rivers, and grassy areas.

Between 1948 and 2025, there were 32 fatal alligator attacks in the state, out of 500 total incidents, according to the FWC. (BBC)