A Disney World Alligator Tried to Board a Raft Just Last Month

Newly obtained footage shows a Disney World alligator trying to board a raft weeks before a 2-year-old boy was killed.

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Complex Original

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After an alligator outside a Disney hotel killed a boy in a lagoon Tuesday night, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Executive Director Nick Wiley said alligator attacks were extremely rare. But according to TMZ, Disney's alligators aren't always exactly keeping to themselves. 

Footage obtained by the site from last month shows an alligator climbing onto a log raft used to transport people to Tom Sawyer Island at Disney's Rivers of America, two miles away from the main park. Onlookers yell "Oh my God," alternating between laughter and shock as the animal hoists itself onto the raft and falls back into the water repeatedly. "It's so close!" one yells.

The park staff set out to catch the intrusive gator, but TMZ didn't know the outcome. Their sources did say the reptiles have been an ongoing problem. As for the alligator that killed the boy, it might still be roaming free, though several alligators have been euthanized. Authorities are in the process of determining whether the one at fault is among them. Disney plans to put alligator warning signs along all its waterways, according to CNN.

Unsurprisingly, alligators don't appear to understand boundaries between human territory and their own. In March, an alligator was found strolling onto school grounds in Florida. Last summer, another was found roaming New York City's streets. And just last month, yet another was strolling around a Florida golf course. 

Alligator attacks are also frequently in the news. One killed a man in Texas who yelled "Fuck that alligator" last year, and another ate a burglar in Florida while he was hiding from the police. 

The moral of the story: approach alligators at your own risk. 

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