ORLANDO, Fla. – Hundreds of alligators have been trapped at Walt Disney World over the past 10 years, according to the entertainment giant.
Disney on Wednesday released a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, whjich shows that 244 alligators were caught and killed on the theme park's property in the past decade. The gators ranged from 4 to 13 feet long.
The numbers come after an alligator killed 2-year-old Lane Graves last week. The toddler was playing in the shallow waters at the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian Resort when he was attacked and pulled underwater.
FWC said it is confident that the alligator responsible for the attack has been removed from Disney.
Fifteen alligators have been caught and killed so far this year, not including the six trapped during the search for the one that killed Lane.
The park is on track for capturing more gators in the first five months of this year than all of last year. According to reports, 16 gators were caught in 2015.
FWC told News 6 that the theme park has an entire staff dedicated to removing nuisance gators from the property.
"We don't get complaints, because it's an open process. They take action directly," FWC Executive Director Nick Wiley said last week.
Wiley added that the FWC will review protocols to prevent something like this from happening again.
"We'll take a careful look and really try to learn from what happened here," Wiley said.
Disney recently took action in light of last week's gator attack. The theme park posted new signs and temporary fences along the beaches at all the resorts. Disney is now warning guests specifically about wild reptiles that lurk in Central Florida's lakes and warning people to stay away from the water.
Investigators said signs warning guests about alligators were not in place when the toddler was killed, only a sign that said no swimming.
[RELATED: News 6 gets a firsthand account of alligator trapping | Alligator trapped after being found with body in mouth, cops say | Alligator halts traffic in Palm Coast]
"There are no words to describe the profound sadness we feel for the family of Lane Graves. We will continue to keep this family close to our hearts as they deal with the pain and grief of the loss of Lane," Wiley said in a statement.
ALLIGATOR INFORMATION
The frequency of serious, unprovoked alligator bites has grown in Florida along with the state's population, but fatal attacks remain rare. Some things to know about alligators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission:
ENDANGERED STATUS
More than a million alligators live throughout Florida, though the species remains listed as a protected species, because it closely resembles the endangered American crocodile.
WATER HAZARD
Alligators can be found in fresh and brackish bodies of water, including lakes, rivers, canals and golf course ponds, and there's an estimated 6.7 million acres of suitable habitat statewide. Alligator bites are most likely to occur in or around water, as gators aren't well-equipped to capture prey on dry land.
FEEDING HABITS
Alligators are opportunistic feeders that will eat what is readily available and easily overpowered. It's illegal to feed wild alligators, because that causes them to lose their fear of humans. While gators can lunge at prey along a shoreline, there's no evidence of alligators running after people or other animals on land.
GATOR PRODUCTS
Hides, meat and other parts can be sold from legally harvested alligators. In 2014, the hides and meat from harvested gators was worth $6.8 million.
RARE ATTACKS
There have been 23 fatalities caused by wild alligators in Florida since 1973, among 383 unprovoked bites not caused by someone handling or intentionally harassing an alligator. Florida averages about seven serious unprovoked bites a year, and officials put the odds of someone being seriously injured by an unprovoked alligator in Florida at roughly one in 2.4 million.
GATOR VICTIMS
Most of the eight children and 15 adults killed by alligators had been in freshwater bodies of water. Other victims include a 2-year-old girl, who wandered 700 feet from her fenced backyard, a 3-year-old boy, who left a roped-off swimming area in a county park to pick lily pads, a 36-year-old man swimming across a pond while trying to elude police, a 54-year-old woman seized by an alligator while landscaping near a pond, and an 82-year-old man killed while walking his dog on a path between two wetland areas.
FIGHT BACK
If an alligator bites someone, they should make a commotion. Hit or kick the alligator, or poke it in its eyes, because alligators will retreat from prey they can't easily overwhelm.