After the incident with Harambe the gorilla and the 4-year-old child at the Cincinnati Zoo, the media now has a stronger focus on various animal attacks that occur, particularly when children are involved. This brings me to the most recent animal attack: the gator attack on a 2-year-old child, occurring Tuesday, June 14m near Walt Disney World located in Orlando, Florida. An attack that, as reported the following day (Wednesday, June 15), was fatal as the child's body was recovered — fully intact — from the lagoon by park divers.

To briefly summarize, the Nebraskan family (who shall be left unnamed to preserve privacy from the whole situation as told by CNN) was near Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, staying at the Grand Floridian Resort. According the CNN, that night (June 14), the family was enjoying an outdoor movie night at the resort when the 2-year-old wandered away towards the lagoon not far from the site. By the time the child was spotted, he was already a foot into the body of water, and an alligator was approaching. The parents as well as a few witnesses rushed to the child's aid; the father jumping onto the gator and attempting to pry the reptile's mouth open to retrieve his child, but to no avail. The gator took the child underwater in the Seven Seas Lagoon, which is connected to a series of channels leading to large bodies of water, thus reasoning how gators get into these areas. Dive squads along with helicopters and patrol boats searched for 16 hours for the missing child but came up short.

The child's body was found a day later on Wednesday, June 15. Autopsy results have not yet been confirmed, but given the state of the body, it appears to officials that the child most likely died via drowning, due to his body being fully intact with only a few puncture wounds, as reported by CNN.

It's a rather unfortunate event, especially with all that went on in Orlando this past weekend.

But let's break this situation down, because this could have easily been prevented (sorry folks). Mind you, there were "no swimming" signs posted around the lagoon in Florida. I realize this family is from Nebraska, but it's common knowledge that Florida is home to a vast number of alligators. And where do gators reside? Bingo: bodies of water. Where was the family lodged near? Seven Seas Lagoon. Gators like water, lagoons are bodies of water, therefore if there's a "no swimming" sign anywhere in Florida, you better bet your lucky star that I would not get near that water, much less let a child close enough to be remotely tempted to get in that water. That's poor judgment and — if they weren't up-to-date with the gator issue in Florida — a poor research value too. Know where you are vacationing and the precautions that may be necessary. Had they researched their vacationing area, they would have found that, according to the Orlando Sentinel, the Grand Floridian Resort has had multiple issues with gators in the Seven Seas Lagoon located near the resort. Duncan Dickson, former Disney executive states: "The entire property is interconnected via canals so it is difficult to keep them (alligators) out of the lakes. Gators are on all of the golf courses. The team attempts to relocate the gators to the uninhabited natural areas as best they can, but the gators don't understand the boundaries."

Don't get me wrong, my thoughts are with that family. It's a really unfortunate tragedy that such a young child died in this event. To connect, an alligators' instinct is much different than a gorilla's, therefore I will not say that the animal was not in the wrong; because gators are vicious. But I will say, that while the animal is completely at fault and needs to be found and relocated in a timely matter (due to having that taste of human blood in its system) in order to prevent a second offense, I also blame the parents. They knew they were near a lagoon in Florida where gators are prominent (not to mention there were "no swimming" signs posted around the area). Therefore, they should have kept a closer eye on their toddler and not have let him wander near (much less into) the Florida waters.

So, similarly to Harambe's case, parents just need to watch their young children better. Because, let's face it, if a child can wander into an animal's habitat without the parents' knowledge, what's stopping another human being from kidnapping that child without the parents' knowledge? Both situations can easily occur if the child gets away from the parents. So, again, parents, please watch your children (especially young children) and keep them away from situations that could get tragic. Keep a hand on them or a child leash on them or something. Because next time, it might not be an animal ... it might be another human being. And next time, there might not be any closure. So please, just watch the child.

Don't let me read about another incident that could have been prevented had the parents been more mindful and watchful over their young seed. It's really getting old.