2yr old taken by alligator near Disney land.

Tragic news. I'm surprised that predators would be allowed so close to a family hotel or that they'd build a family hotel so close to predators.
 
I heard about this earlier, very sad and horrible.

I've not read the full story yet but isn't this lake\lagoon in the middle of a big complex? If so why would you have humans and man eaters in the same vicinity in this way, you don't see humans with lions and\or tigers roaming around in the same complex, why Alligators.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
They did ignore the warnings and the population of alligators is not unmanageable. If people behaved appropriately, there would be no risk of incidents.

If parents require more control than warning signs to stay away from the alligators, then they frankly need to learn to parent rather than need more animal control. Very easy to blame a company or a name over a grieving mother and father but fact of the matter is, you cant keep shifting blame onto the animals and landowners.

Animal gonna animal and so expecting everyone to accommodate for your safety is only going to lead to carelessness.

It is a sad story but it seems that every day i am reading about a child that is a victim as a result of negligence. I am against punishing of parents (which some seem to call for) in incidences like these but shifting blame to the land owners or animals achieves nothing except rids them of their failure to keep an eye on warning signs and failures.
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As far as I'm aware, the signs said "no swimming" and no beware of Aligator signs.
 
phenx said:
Tragic news. I'm surprised that predators would be allowed so close to a family hotel or that they'd build a family hotel so close to predators.
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I believe a lot of places will mesh off areas and regularly search for gators above a certain size and relocate them. A two year old wouldn't need a particularly large one though :(

Alligators can be extremely quick over short distances and once back in the water you'll never catch them. Tragic.

I guess they'll have to have a cull of all in that vicinity to a) make a public show they're doing something and b) get the one that did it although I'm not sure a creature that runs purely on instinct would necessarily hunt humans on purpose again after... well. Poor kid and family.

edit: just to say when we went (I was 14 so a while back) we had it drummed into us by everyone we met and signs that any body of water could have an alligator in it. 100% don't swim in it and keep a respectful distance from the waters edge. Guess if it was in an actual resort you might let your guard down a little.
 
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As horrible as this incident is, I think we should add some context for all the "Omg exterminate all alligators, take Disney to court" people entering the thread.

Number of fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948?

22.

That's no comfort for the poor family involved, but this is a massively rare incident.
 
phenx said:
Tragic news. I'm surprised that predators would be allowed so close to a family hotel or that they'd build a family hotel so close to predators.
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In the Disney area there are loads of small lakes and bodies of water, you can't really stop Alligators from moving around and swimming in them. There are upto 2 million Alligators in Florida so you can imagine it's not a small issue
 
Rids said:
As horrible as this incident is, I think we should add some context for all the "Omg exterminate all alligators, take Disney to court" people entering the thread.

Number of fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948?

22.

That's no comfort for the poor family involved, but this is a massively rare incident.
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Hey look, the only reason I mentioned a court case is because it's America, and that's what will happen.

I totally agree that this was a predator just doing what it does, as tragic as that is. Culling them isn't the answer, it's keeping people away from areas that they could be that is the solution.

If we were talking a national park or something, it's a bit more understandable, but this was a Disney property where they operated a beach. I'm sure they also have similar health and safety assessments to what we have here, so a large body of water + guests with children + alligators is probably quite an important risk.

You've got people visiting from all over the world to experience the magic of Disney with their children, many from places such as the UK where we don't have predatory animals. Disney is also very "Disney", and by that I mean artificial and safe, so a Disney property having guests eaten by alligators is terrible PR for anyone, but for Disney even more so. That's why I'm sure they will make changes to their beach and will probably settle any charges brought against them.
 
Rids said:
As horrible as this incident is, I think we should add some context for all the "Omg exterminate all alligators, take Disney to court" people entering the thread.

Number of fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948?

22.

That's no comfort for the poor family involved, but this is a massively rare incident.
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I wonder what the number of gun related homicides are since 1948....
 
AHarvey said:
It's a family resort with a beach, families are going to use it. Gators can come out of the water and grab kids, not just those in the water. You don't expect to go to a family theme park and worry about things such as this.
I don't think it's a bad suggestion that the area should be properly fenced off and the tiny population in that specific area culled or moved.
It's a tragic incident that should never have happened and proper steps need putting in place to stop it happening again.
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I pondered the same thing, right outside a Disney family hotel, I would have thought they might have had some sort of suitable fencing in place for the fake beach line associated with the hotel.
Although I am aware of gators and Florida, I would have expected the area right outside my Disney hotel to be somehow secured. It would not have been a thought in my mind, unless warning were given/issued/written.

Granted my 2 year old would not have been playing in the water at 8/9pm in the first place.

Bloody awful story.
 
I didn't actually realise it was 9pm! ... In fresh water... in Florida...

Thats pretty daft, it's like the mcanns, but we know who the killer was.

Utterly tragic freak event, as there are so few gator attacks, but you can hardly put up 6 foot steel fences everywhere, when just basic research of your Holliday would arm you with all the info you need to stay safe from the local flora and fauna.

I do feel for the parents though, they'll have to live with the fact that thier ignorance cause their kid to become alligator food. That must be ... well I don't know, I cantr begin to imagine the torment.
 
thedoc46 said:
Was the boy in the water or just at the shoreline ? It is somewhat rare for a gator to go for such large prey. Normally birds and small creatures are what they go for. Reports say from 4 to 7ft, which is relatively small for a gator.

This is like saying never take your kid to the beach incase a shark attacks. Which can and does happen, but again, very rare.
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I don't think you can compare this to shark attacks to be honest.

Sharks hunting near beaches is much rarer than finding alligators in water in Florida.

There's also a lot of shark spotting going on, as soon as one is seen warnings are made and people get out the water.

One of the reasons alligators have been around so long is they're bloody good at not being seen until it's too late.
 
I was in Kos the other week but didn't a family get hung drawn & quartered for letting their little boy fall in a gorilla compund and it got killed?
I wonder if the same thing will happen to this family now 4 alligators got murdered?
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I was in Kos the other week but didn't a family get hung drawn & quartered for letting their little boy fall in a gorilla compund and it got killed?
I wonder if the same thing will happen to this family now 4 alligators got murdered?
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There are major differences and some unanswered questions. Firstly there was seemingly nothing by all to stop this child getting near the water. In the zoo there was a wall. Some people who have been said they were made aware not to go anywhere near the water but not there there were signs indicating the dangers. So we don't know if these folks were made aware.
I don't think alligators in florida are endangered. Gorillas are. Still a waste though.
 
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