“We have a large property, and from time to time, we have to remove alligators from our property”, Wahler said Thursday.
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Universal Studios, which is owned by NBC Universal, the parent company of NBC News, said it has begun an audit of water bodies and signage at its properties in Florida. “To all of the local authorities and staff who worked tirelessly these past 24 hours, we express our deepest gratitude”, the statement read.
Disney has been working with the family to try and alleviate some of their grief, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
Disney will be closing all of its Florida resort beaches and will post new signs indicating the possible presence of alligators in the waters, days after a Nebraska toddler was attacked and drowned by one of the predators in a resort lagoon, the Washington Post reports.
All beaches at Disney’s Orlando resorts have been closed following the tragedy.
Photos showed workers drilling post holes in the stretch where little Lane Graves disappeared along with the predatory reptile outside the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. “There are alligators and snakes in the area” with a black silhouette of an alligator and a snake.
Some lawyers have said Lane’s parents, who are from Elkhorn, Neb., could file a lawsuit against Disney.
Walt Disney World officials closed beaches along the man-made lagoon after the incident and said they would be reviewing protocols. The medical examiner ruled the cause the death as drowning and traumatic injuries.
Walt Disney World installed a temporary barrier Friday on the shoreline where an alligator fatally attacked a 2-year-old boy at a luxury resort and put up gator warning signs in the area for the first time. Last year, they removed more than 7,500 alligators deemed to be a nuisance. The search patrols reportedly killed five alligators during the search, opening them up in the hopes of finding the boy’s body. “So this issue of posting a sign warning of swimming or no swimming doesn’t adequately warn patrons of the known danger”.
Lane T. Graves died after an alligator snatched him as he waded in shallow water around nightfall Tuesday.
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His father and mother jumped in to rescue the toddler, but were unable to wrench him away from the gator, officials said.
