At least 414 “nuisance” alligators have been captured and removed from Walt Disney World property since a toddler was killed by one of the reptiles a decade ago, according to a report.
Lane Thomas Graves, two, was killed on June 14, 2016, when an alligator pounced as he built sandcastles on the beach outside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. The animal lunged out of the Seven Seas Lagoon while Lane was “ankle deep or less in the water,” according to state records obtained by News 6.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documents obtained by the outlet found that an average of 23 alligators were removed annually by state-contracted trappers from Disney property over the eight years leading up to Lane’s death. In 2016, the year of the attack, 83 alligators were removed from the resort. In 2017, 57 alligators were captured.
Records suggest that an average of 36 alligators were removed from Disney property annually, from 2018 to 2025. In the first four months of 2026, at least a dozen were captured.
Lane was killed while visiting the resort from Elkhorn, Nebraska, with his parents, Matt and Melissa. Lane’s father was injured while trying to rescue his son from the animal, but the two-year-old and the alligator vanished. Lane was found dead a day later, on June 15.