Expanding alligator and human populations has led to increased contact, with some people behaving unwisely due to ignorance during these encounters.
Decades ago, alligators were approaching extinction. Alligators were an endangered species until 1987, when the Fish and Wildlife Service pronounced them as fully recovered.
Yet it wasn't until 2002 that there was a noticeable increase in the number of alligator attacks:
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It's all well-and-good to mention so-and-so number of deaths in the last so-and-so decades. According to this chart, there were 5 deaths
in 2015 alone. The problem is getting worse because:
- Larger humans and alligator populations have resulted in more encounters.
- Uninformed people have been feeding alligators during these increased encounters.
Government agencies and outdoor businesses typically warn visitors when dangerous animals are present. Posted warnings about sharks or bears are common practice, even though both are relatively rare compared to the over one million alligators in the state of Florida alone.
Disney euthanized 5 nearby alligators within hours of this tragedy. WDW has a lot of alligators.
Disney also has a lot of visitors from other parts of the World who don't know that on-property alligators are common, and don't know feeding them causes alligators to change their behaviors.
Disney should have done more to warn Guests.
And perhaps more than anything, people who continue to feed alligators should be punished.
