A woman is believed to have been killed by an alligator while she was walking her dogs.

Police were called the Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park in Florida after another walker claimed to see a woman being dragged into the water by one of the creatures.

The force said that it believed that 47-year-old Shizuka Matsuki had been killed.

Rangers later captured a 12-foot alligator while searching for her remains. After cutting it open they found a human arm.

A necropsy performed on the alligator confirmed that it attacked and killed Ms Matsuki.

However, a police spokesperson would not say if this identification was from the arm found in the alligator.

A witness said they saw Ms Matsuki's dogs alone and barking at the side of the water. Authorities observed that one of the dogs had a large fresh wound on its side when they arrived.

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Her friend Jim Borrelli said her husband was away at the time of the incident.

He added that he was asked to break the news of Ms Matsuki's death to her son, who is in his 20s and lives in New York.

Florida's wildlife commission stressed that alligator attacks are rare, and that a Florida resident has a 1 in 3.2million chance of being bitten by one.

Locals commented that the area is known for alligators and as a result dog walkers are told to never allow their animals off the lead.

Heather Porrata, who lives nearby, said: “Any body of water in Florida, you’ve got to know at some point or another there’s an alligator."

Rangers have previously undertaken campaigns telling people not to feed alligators, as they might lose their fear of humans which could lead to the number of attacks increasing.