Irma Acosta Arya | Florida Man January 17

Irma Acosta Arya Fed Alligators, Vultures And Other Wildlife; She Now Owes $53,000 In Fines | January 17

West Palm Beach: An Ibis woman who fed vultures, alligators and other wildlife behind her house agreed Wednesday to pay $53,000 to settle a suit brought by the community’s property owners association. The woman, Irma Acosta Arya, was ordered from further feedings and ordered her to pay the $53,000 for attorneys’ fees, costs and fines by Feb. 14.

The Valentine’s Day payment will come as a relief to residents of the gated golf community, which borders Grassy Waters Preserve, a wildlife-filled Everglades remnant, on the western side of West Palm Beach. The association alleged that Acosta Arya’s nocturnal and daytime feedings attracted flocks of defecating, vomiting vultures, as well as raccoons, alligators and a bobcat, since 2016.

Acosta Arya did not attend the hearing, but her son and husband did. Her attorney, James Potts Sr., told the judge she agreed to never again feed the wildlife at or near Ibis. She had not done so “for many months.”

Kerner found her in contempt of court in December for violating a temporary injunction, after the association presented photos allegedly showing her feeding animals behind her house in recent months. Complaints about the feedings date as far back as 2016, when wildlife officers issued her a citation and relocated a gator that they found had grown oversized and too comfortable around humans.

Irma Acosta Arya’s neighbors on Wildcat Run reported seeing her providing finger sandwiches and raw chicken for the wildlife. They reported seeing many empty bags of dog food in a recycling bin near her house, though she doesn’t have a dog. She said the food was for a relative’s dog.