Tampa, Florida police arrested 20-year-old Jacob Pursifull for filming himself as he jumped into an alligator exhibit at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
Some people will do anything in order to get views on social media. That includes doing dangerous and sometimes illegal stunts.
During the video, Pursifull used a fake Australian accent to impersonate the late conservationist Steve Irwin.
According to Pursifull's social media account, he is an influencer trying to grow his audience by posting prank and stunt videos. However, between his TikTok and YouTube channels combined, he has less than 8,000 followers.
You can see video—not from Pursifull—here:
FOX 13 News spoke to Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation founder Vernon Yates about Pursifull's actions.
Yates said if one of the alligators had attacked Pursifull, the alligator would have had to be put down.
“He is nothing that anybody should look at [and say], ‘Wow, that was cool,’ because that wasn’t."
"That was stupid.”
You can see local news coverage here:
Social media seemed to agree the stunt was not the smartest decision.
A spokesperson for Busch Gardens commented on Pursifull's stunt.
“We are thankful to hear that the individuals involved in illegally entering one of our animal habitats recently have been arrested and are facing charges for their dangerous actions."
"The safety and well-being of our guests, ambassadors, and animals is a top priority, and we are very grateful to law enforcement, particularly the Tampa Police Department and their law enforcement partners, for their swift action.”
Pursifull was charged with burglary, theft of services and trespassing.
He is currently being held at Orient Road Jail in Tampa on $8,500 bail.
Hopefully this experience was enough to prevent anymore dangerous and illegal stunts in the future.
