At least 414 nuisance alligators have been removed from Walt Disney World property in the decade since 2-year-old Lane Thomas Graves was killed at the Grand Floridian’s Seven Seas Lagoon in June 2016, newly obtained state records show. The tally, compiled by state trappers working under Florida’s nuisance-alligator program, underscores how routinely the resort has to manage large reptiles around its manmade lakes and canals. Disney tightened shoreline barriers and warning signage after the tragedy, but wildlife officials say wrangling gators is still a routine part of public-safety work in central Florida.
As reported by ClickOrlando, newly obtained Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission records show 83 alligators were removed from Disney property in 2016 and 57 in 2017, with an average of 36 removals per year from 2018 through 2025. The station’s review found at least a dozen nuisance alligators captured on resort land in the first four months of 2026, bringing the total to at least 414 since the 2016 attack.
How Florida tracks and removes nuisance gators
State harvest tables show nuisance removals remain large statewide. Data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lists more than 8,700 alligators taken under nuisance programs in 2024 alone. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission runs the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, which dispatches contracted trappers when complaints meet program criteria, and the commission says it generally does not relocate nuisance animals because released gators often try to return to the capture site, guidance that is laid out on its SNAP page.
Where captured gators end up
Many of the animals trappers remove are euthanized, processed for meat and hides, or transferred to licensed farms and private preserves, according to reporting from ClickOrlando. The station quotes trapper Ian Hall saying some captured gators are released on hunting preserves where clients may later hunt them, and other trappers have long relied on hide and meat sales plus modest state payments to make the job viable. Records reviewed for the investigation indicate Disney works with FWC and contracted trappers to address sightings across resort lakes.
Disney’s changes after the 2016 attack
Days after the 2016 attack, Disney added ropes, stone barriers and more prominent warning signage at resort beaches and changed employee procedures to discourage guests from approaching waterline areas. About a year later, the company unveiled a small lighthouse sculpture near the Grand Floridian as a memorial. The lighthouse and related statements about training and cooperation with state wildlife officials were reported by CBS News and local stations at the time, and the Lane Thomas Foundation continues to use the memorial as part of its awareness work.
Wildlife officials remind local visitors and tourists alike that waterways and retention ponds across central Florida are natural habitats for alligators and that people should never feed or approach them. If you see a gator behaving aggressively or posing a threat, call Florida’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286) so trained trappers can respond.
