Reports on the Disney alligator attack is shedding new light on what happened before the young boy was killed.
Details surrounding the horrific tragedy at a Disney Resort are starting to leaking to the press. According to reports, Disney knew of possible issues with alligators and staff members asked for a fence to be built at the lagoon. From TheWrap:
Numerous employees at the theme park expressed anxiety to management about guests feeding the animals within the past 14 months, an insider with knowledge of the resort told TheWrap.
Guests apparently had direct access to wildlife in the waters and previous guests would commonly feed gators that swam by, according to a source close to TheWrap.
“Disney has known about the problem of guests feeding the alligators well-prior to the opening of the bungalows,” said the insider. “With the opening of the bungalows, it brought the guests that much closer to wildlife. Or, the wildlife that much closer to the guests.”
Another employee at the Disney hotel explained to the Orlando Sentinel that he warned his bosses that gators were consistently swimming close to the shore and a fence should be erected to protect guests. “There are signs that say, ‘No swimming,’ but no signs that say gators and everything else in this lake.”
In addition, another former Disney executive, Duncan Dickson, said: “The entire property is interconnected via canals so it is difficult to keep them out of the lakes. Gators are on all of the golf courses. The team attempts to relocate the gators to the uninhabited natural areas as best they can, but the gators don’t understand the boundaries.”
According to reports, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, Rose Silva, says a 2-year-old was dragged into Seven Seas Lagoon near the resort at about 9:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. He was found dead on Wednesday afternoon after divers searched the lagoon.
“As a parent and a grandparent, my heart goes out to the Graves family during this time of devastating loss,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement Wednesday evening. “My thoughts and prayers are with them, and I know everyone at Disney joins me in offering our deepest sympathies.”
Via TheWrap
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