LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Wildlife trappers have captured and removed at least 414 nuisance alligators from Walt Disney World property since a toddler was killed by an alligator at a Disney resort ten years ago, newly obtained state records show.
Lane Thomas Graves, 2, was building sandcastles on the beach outside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort on June 14, 2016, when an alligator lunged out of the Seven Seas Lagoon, a state investigation concluded.
Graves was standing “ankle deep or less in the water” while scooping it into a bucket as the alligator pulled him in, state records show.
Over the eight years prior to the child’s death, state-contracted wildlife trappers removed an average of 23 alligators from Disney property, according to records from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In 2016, the year of the fatal attack, 83 alligators were removed from the resort. The following year, 57 alligators were captured.
From 2018 to 2025, an average of 36 alligators were removed from Disney property annually, records show. At least a dozen were captured in the first four months of this year.
“In keeping with our strong commitment to safety, we continue to reinforce procedures related to reporting sightings and interactions with wildlife, and work closely with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to remove or relocate certain wildlife from our property in accordance with state regulations,” a Walt Disney World spokesperson told News 6 in 2021 in response to questions about the ongoing alligator removals.
To address complaints about potentially dangerous alligators, the FWC administers the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, or SNAP.
“The goal of SNAP is to proactively address alligator threats in developed areas, while conserving alligators in areas where they naturally occur,” said FWC communications coordinator Hailee Seely. “People with concerns about an alligator should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and we will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation.”
More than 8,700 alligators that posed a threat to people, pets or property were captured statewide under the program in 2024, the FWC records show.
The state pays trappers a $50 stipend per alligator that is caught.
The FWC said it does not relocate nuisance alligators because the reptiles often try to return to their capture site and remote locations generally have healthy alligator populations.
Many trappers euthanize the nuisance alligators they capture and are authorized to sell the meat and hide for additional profit.
Some alligators captured under the state program are given to animal exhibits or zoos.
Others, including alligators recently captured on Walt Disney World property, are transferred to licensed alligator farms and private hunting preserves.
“We received them all alive and they are released on our hunting preserve where our clients can hunt them. Then they are processed for eating,” said Ian Hall, owner of Florida Hunting, Fishing & Outdoor Adventures in Okeechobee.
The removal of nuisance alligators does not have a significant impact on Florida’s population of about 1.3 million alligators, according to the FWC.
When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, visitors were welcome to swim in the resort’s lakes. Early publicity photos showed adults and children splashing in the water along white sand beaches.
At the time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had classified the American alligator as an endangered species due to overhunting and habitat loss that drove the reptile to near-extinction.
Later conservation efforts caused Florida’s alligator population to rebound. The government removed it from endangered status in 1987.
Disney World officials eventually began discouraging visitors from entering natural bodies of water and posted “no swimming” signs, but until 2016 visitors could still easily access the water at many of its resort hotels.
Days after Graves’ death, Disney installed fences and piles of large rocks along the shorelines of its lakes to prevent visitors from getting close.
The company also posted new signs warning guests about alligators and snakes and urging them not to feed wildlife, while reinforcing employee training regarding wildlife sightings.
A sculpture of a lighthouse was installed near the Grand Floridian Resort beach in 2017 to spread awareness of the Lane Thomas Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by Graves’ parents to support families of children in need of organ transplants.
The FWC recommends the following precautionary measures to reduce the chances of conflicts with alligators:
- Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator
- Keep pets on a leash and away from the water’s edge. Pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey.
- Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
- Never feed an alligator. It’s illegal and dangerous. When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food. This can lead to an alligator becoming a nuisance and needing to be removed from the wild.
- If someone is concerned about an alligator, they should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and we will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation.