A worker was attacked and critically injured by an alligator at Silver Springs

SILVER SPRINGS, Fla. - A worker was attacked by a eleven-and-a-half foot long alligator at a Marion County theme park.

Officials say 55-year-old Pete Butt, an environmental contractor was putting dye in a canal to monitor the flow of water at Silver Springs Nature Park Tuesday around 6 p.m. when he was attacked by the 500 pound gator.

“When we arrived on scene, we found the patient with lacerations to the neck and he also had a broken jaw,” Miranda Iglesias of the Marion County Fire Department told WFTV.com.

The victim was taken to a Gainesville hospital in critical condition with wounds to his head and neck. He is expected to survive.

A co-worker of Butt's said the alligator had lived at the park for years and had never attacked anyone before Tuesday.

"Fifteen years ago this gator would hide underneath our dock. And when we would come out for our decompressions he would be in that area. This same gator has been here all along," said Eric Hutchenson.

A trapper working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captured the alligator Tuesday night. The animal was euthanized.

The gator will be harvested for its meat and hide, and then sold, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission.