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South Carolina woman bitten by alligator while walking her dog

SUN CITY, S.C. — A South Carolina woman was bitten by an alligator near her retirement home Monday night as she walked her dog, wildlife officials said.

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According to David Lucas of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the 68-year-old woman was walking her dog about 10 p.m. near her house in the Sun City Hilton Head retirement community, which is located near several ponds, WYFF reported.

The woman was bitten on her wrist, hand and leg by the alligator, which wildlife officials said measured between 8 and 9 feet long. She was taken to a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, WTOC reported. The extent of her injuries was not known, the television station reported. The dog was unharmed.

These types of incidents are extremely rare," Lucas told WYFF.

"Unfortunately, we did find an adult patient that had engaged in some capacity with a gator. While we wouldn't say they were life-threatening injuries, they were certainly life-changing injuries," Capt. Lee Levesque, of the Bluffton Township Fire District, told WTOC.

The alligator was later captured and euthanized, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.