Disney removes 250 gators since Nebraska boy’s death

The Associated Press
Wildlife officials have removed 250 alligators from Disney properties in the five years since a 2-year-old Nebraska boy was killed by an alligator at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, a newspaper reported.
The company has worked with trappers contracted through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to remove the gators, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Most of the nuisance gators taken from Disney properties are euthanized and sold for their hide and meat, Tammy Sapp, spokeswoman for the wildlife agency, told the newspaper.
Some are also transferred to alligator farms, animal exhibits and zoos, she said. Those less than 4 feet are relocated, she said.
Trappers receive $30 for every captured gator, plus the proceeds from any leather and meat sold, the newspaper reported.
After Lane Thomas Graves was killed in June 2016, Disney installed a wall and put up reptile warning signs along waterways throughout its resorts.
Disney guests said they’re glad the resort is proactively removing gators from its properties. A biology expert agreed, adding that the removals should have a minimal impact on the Florida alligator population.
Removing nuisance gators from Disney doesn’t have much of an impact on the population since they’re already living on developed land there, Deby Cassill, the integrative biology associate campus chair at the University of South Florida, told the Sentinel.
“It’s already been compromised by development,” Cassill said.
Sapp said there have been three fatal alligator attacks since 2016 in Florida and no reported bite incidents at Disney since Lane’s death.
The boy’s parents, Matt and Melissa Graves of Omah founded the Lane Thomas Foundation to help families with children in need of live-saving organ transplants.