Lurking alligators prompt south Georgia park to close swim area

VALDOSTA, Ga. — A state park in south Georgia has closed its beach area after several alligators started getting too near swimmers, according to a media report.

A professional trapper has been brought into Reed Bingham State Park in Adel to remove the alligators, the Valdosta Daily Times reported.

Kim Hatcher, a spokeswoman for Georgia state parks, said alligators are naturally afraid of humans and tend to stay away, the paper reported. Human involvement in this park may have caused the alligators to begin coming too close to people.

“We like to remind people not to feed the wildlife,” Hatcher said.

Earlier in June, an alligator was captured by a professional trapper off Tybee Island after officials closed beaches there. The alligator was later killed.

Also this month, an alligator snatched a toddler at a lake at the Walt Disney resort in Orlando. The toddler’s body was found the next day.

Cox Media Group