Why Deadly Alligator Attacks Like South Carolina Are a Growing Trend

The death of Cassandra Cline, a 45-year-old elementary school teacher, who was killed by a 9-foot alligator while protecting her dog on Hilton Head Island Monday made headlines around the world.

Fatal alligator attacks are rare – rare enough that they attract a lot of attention when they happen. But dangerous human-gator interactions are starting to happen more frequently because people are moving deeper into alligators' habitat, says University of Florida professor Frank Mazzotti.