I'm sorry, but watching the the video (you can find it linked to from
this news story) and hearing the first-hand accounts further reinforces my original comments.
Teachers on school campuses direct kids all the time. Do people sometimes disobey, of course...but I have a feeling when staring down a 9-foot alligator most kids AND adults would follow a simple "The bus will be stopping over THERE this morning, instead of here. You go down there and wait for it, while I deal with this alligator." Further, the alligator is not like a criminal with a gun -- the warden wasn't in imminent danger and had time to assess the situation and take appropriate action. Parking his truck in the street a safe distance between the gator and onlookers would have given him ample time to find a solution. If the warden felt under-prepared to deal with such a large gator, a call should have been put in to the local police department for backup in securing the premises (getting the kids & adults a safe distance away -- further reading of other stories shows the local PD did in fact respond and are the ones who called the warden to the scene) and TPWD and/or the city's animal control for another officer.
It was wrong to drag an animal behind a car. Period. Houston has its share of alligators (anyone anywhere near a golf course there knows that) and alligator wranglers. This did not have to happen this way.
This new story indicates the 9-foot gator had already been hit by a car, causing the eye injury. It was no doubt angry and more dangerous than usual, but securing the scene is still easier than if the alligator had been an armed criminal standing in the road holding people at gunpoint. There was ample TIME TO THINK and TIME TO ACT properly.
I am glad no humans were hurt, yes. I'm not a PETA "animals are more important than people" person, but I don't support wrong-headed actions dealing with wildlife particularly when those actions come from someone presumably trained to handle such creatures.
PS: Reading more articles just makes this all the more frustrating. Can we please inform CLUELESS parents that letting your child
ride up to a alligator and 'bump it on the nose' is not something you should permit your child to do? That underscores a whole other side to this story, namely that people somehow think wildlife is tame if it's within arm's reach. That kid's lucky he didn't become lunch, just like the kids I used to see held over the plexiglass wall at Sea World's orca stadium by their parents.