Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Alligator abuse caught on camera
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) - Three air boat tour guides are accused of feeding and coming in contact with alligators.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says they received complaints from tourists claiming air boat captains at Everglades Holiday Park were feeding gators.
According to the investigation, Alan Griffith and two other air boat guides were caught on camera as they broke the law. The FWC will charge all three with feeding the gators but Griffith will be charged with molestation for touching a gator's eyes. "I don't really consider it molesting. I was trying to educate our people to come out here and take air rides and just showing them, you know I never hurt the alligators," said Alan Griffith.
According to the FWC, alligators should be afraid of humans in its natural environment but when they are not that can become a danger to everyone. "Once it starts to associate you, the human being, as a food source, that fear disseminates. It goes away," says George Pino of the FWC.
The number one rule to remember is not to feed the gators. Griffith was aware of the rule and says he will not break it again.
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