Once again, our nation is shocked by a horrifying story of a toddler placed, quite accidentally, in peril of an attack from an animal.
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The parents of 2-year-old Lane Graves, who was snatched and killed by an alligator while his family was vacationing at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa earlier this week, have spoken publicly about the tragedy for the first time.
Both events raise serious questions about not only the safety of recreational activities in proximity to animals, but also the effectiveness of warning and safety information meant to prevent such tragedies.
The man-made, 172-acre lagoon only featured signage that said no swimming and warned of deep waters, but now permanent signage at all of Disneys resorts will warn guests of lurking alligators. What other safety and warning steps could Disney have taken?
In response, the park plans more explicit verbiage. Disney says it is reviewing its signage, but it does have an open permit to pull alligators from the water when they’re spotted.
Beaches at Disney resorts have remained closed.
A sign posted next to a small lake at Matheson Hammock Park warns of potential alligators, Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in Miami.
State wildlife officials say Disney has an active alligator monitoring program and an open permit to trap alligators on its properties that are deemed to be a nuisance.
“We’re going to make certain that we have the alligator that was involved, and that we remove it from the lake”, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley said in a statement. “Never did any of us think there was any danger at all!”
Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, also said in a statement, “As a parent and a grandparent, my heart goes out to the Graves family during this time of devastating loss”.
But after a gator killed a 2-year-old Nebraska boy at a Walt Disney World resort, attention soon turned to tourists.
One user commented on Croze’s post: “Disney gave the kids shovels and pails that night!”
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
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According to the Orlando Sentinel, Mike Hamilton, a custodian at the Polynesian Resort Village, told his employer that gators were swimming too close to guests and that a protective fence should be erected to keep them at bay.
