The difference is, they were once aggressively hunted and killed, and had a fear of humans as a result. That’s not the case now. Combine that with tourists who don’t understand the threat, some of whom actually feed the alligators, and you increasingly will have a problem. Large predators need to be removed from areas of human habitation, and they need to have a fear of humans. This means hunting them and killing them. If that upsets fans of wildlife and environmentalists, well, the truth is sometimes ugly.
They’ve got a season here in south Louisiana, but I don’t think it qualifies as aggressive. Hell there’s even a reality show about it on TV. That said, most folks here know to stay out of fresh water areas, except dogs and drunks...
Agreed, if you are from MN, you aren't thinking that hey, there could be an ambush predator 2 feet from me at the waters edge and I wouldn't know it.
The reality is alligator attacks on humans are rare, but they can and do happen. They will always happen, nothing is going to stop this.
As to those blaming the parents, this kid was wading in the water, feet from his parents... for reference this is the beach at the grand floridian.
People wade in this water all the time, wading is not swimming, and I've personally used the catamaran and the motorboats on this man made lake. If you think families are typically thinking twice about going ankle deep in this lake you are nuts.
This wasn't bad parenting, this was a sad random situation.
I pray for the parents and family, and I also pray for the hearts of those who think this was negligent parenting.