BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Palm Bay wildlife sanctuary is dealing with issues with people feeding wild animals.

It’s gotten so bad an alligator had to be put down, and it’s actually illegal to feed them.

Not only that, it can have unintended consequence for the animals.

Tracey Wright is the park ranger at Palm Bay's Turkey Creek Sanctuary. For the past six years, she's worked to make the 130-acre preserve home for wildlife like snakes, gopher tortoises and birds.

Visitors come from near and far, local to out of state, to take in the sights and sounds of nature in the middle of a large city.

"That is our goal, to educate the public," Wright tells us. "And try to conserve the plants and animals that we have."

But there's another issue she and volunteers are working to educate visitors about. One rule is not to feed the wild animals, a rule that is being broken more.

The animals are getting used to patrons feeding them, expecting or demanding to be fed.

"Sometimes the raccoons will go right up and grab people or grab something out of the person's hand," Wright explains. "And that's dangerous because they might bite them."

When we were there, we saw kayakers in the creek being followed. The turtles are expecting to be fed.

"You can see them coming up to the boats. People are feeding them, turtles and alligators from the boats," says Wright pointing at the water.

Recently, a seven-foot long female alligator had to be removed by a trapper after stalking visitors near the canoe deck area. It had to be put down.

"It's the animal that always pays the price," Wright says. "There's a saying 'a fed animal is a dead animal'".

This weekend the sanctuary is holding a "ranger-led" tour to educate the public about the issue and give more information about the park's mission.