“Safest WILD Ever” sees 30% drop in students attacked by crocodiles

Last weekend’s Fall WILD saw remarkable improvements in safety, with record few students suffering crocodile attack related injuries. The numbers are 30% lower than the previous record, leading SPB president Leo Park to declare this the “safest WILD ever.”
 
“We’re really proud of what we accomplished this year safety-wise,” said Park. “Our goal is to get as many people into Brookings Quad, while keeping student-crocodile run-ins to an absolute minimum. At the same time, we still want everyone to have their fun.”
 
Closer monitoring of off-campus crocodile activity was critical to the reduction in attacks. A week before the event, an email was sent to students urging them to avoid known crocodile hot-spots such as Wong’s Wok, and an increased WUPD presence around these locations on the day of WILD kept students from taunting the ancient reptiles, or engaging in other risky behavior.
On campus, Res Life staff tried to make crocodile safety on WILD more of a community effort, particularly for freshmen living on the South 40.
 
“We know freshmen are always going to want to experiment with crocodiles, especially during WILD,” said Beau 2 RA Rahul Sehgal. “But we really emphasized holding each other responsible. Don’t let your friend be that guy who drapes himself in fresh zebra skin, gets bit by a croc, and then doesn’t make it to WILD.”
 
B&D security guard Joe Lattanzio said he noticed a significant increase in safety while manning the gate to Brookings Quad.
 
“Sure we had a couple of kids stumble up to the gate with a chunk of their calf missing, trying to pretend they hadn’t been caught in the death-roll of a twelve-footer,” Lattanzio said, “But there were far fewer of those cases than we’ve had in the past.”
 
Overall, although he is skeptical his organization can ever fully eliminate crocodile attacks during WILD, Park is pleased with the progress made this year.
 
“Overall it was a very safe and successful event,” he said. “We always strive to lose more kids to alcohol poisoning than croc attacks, and we achieved just that.”