The Crocodile hunter is dead?
I've just heard reports that Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter has died after being stung by a stingray in North Queensland, Australia.
Wow :(
Regardless of what you thought of him, his genuine dedication to wildlife conservation will be sorely missed.
Edit: it's true:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20349888-2,00.htmlhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/
Ow. He was lame yet awesome. 's a pity.
Wow. I've just been listening to local radio in the car, and Steve's death is being compared to that of Princess Diana. His "Australia Zoo" ia about 90mins drive from Brisbane, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
I understand the comparision. I feel genuinely shocked and saddened, even though I wasn't particularly an Irwin fan, and he was pretty much bound to go in a way that would make the news.
Our local ABC radio had a trauma councillor on to talk about how to tell your kids the sad news. Irwin himself was very popular with children, and had a strong involvement with childrens' group "The Wiggles", together they had an enourmously popular kids' DVD.
There's a real outpouring of sadness and dismay amoungst talkback callers on the commercial networks as well. He did a lot for the local community, and was very popular in the Sunshine Coast region.
Krikey, it was bound to happen!
Yeah, everyone knew he wouldn't die in a car crash or fire or some mundane thing like that... everyone knew he would die at the hands/paws/jaws/tail of some animal.
I wonder if they got it on tape? I always figured he'd get mauled by a large cat or a bear or bitten by a poisonous snake.
Sad too that his wife is the last to know - the whole WORLD knew about it before she even found out just a few hours ago.. she and kid were hiking in the tasmanian mountains.
he did amazing things for the wildlife in this country and around the world. An offbeat guy - but i think the world has lost a very precious energy today.
It is sad whenever kids loose their Dad. The interesting part to me is how television made this guy famous enough that folks in Australia, Taiwan, and the US are touched by his death. That means by avoiding the medium, I am losing a common connection worldwide rather than just countrywide. Did he impact environmentalism outside Austrailia or was that more national?
From what I am reading
here, it was a freak accident. Most peoples experiences with stingrays involve being stung in the foot or leg. I guess while diving, the odds of a hit to the chest are increased.
Also, like bee stings, different people can have different reactions.
It's a shame. The guy was a bit of a showman, but anything that kept the public's attention on nature and conservation was a good thing.
Goodbye, Steve. You were taken too soon.
At least stingrays are relatively cool animals. This would have been a much different conversation had he been mauled by a koala.
Very sad, seemed like truly good - if a little nuts - guy. Bye Steve.
SYDNEY (AFP) - World-renowned "crocodile hunter" and television environmentalist Steve Irwin has died following a stingray attack in northeastern Australia, local government sources said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Irwin, 44, known for his enthusiastic approach to even the deadliest of wildlife, was killed when a stingray barb punctured his chest during the filming and underwater documentary, the sources quoted by the Australian Associated Press said.
The larger-than-life Irwin, dubbed "The Crocodile Hunter" after the nature documentary series he hosted, was filming off the coast of Port Douglas in the state of Queensland when the accident took place.
I feel terrible for his family and loved ones, but he did this himself and has been taunting this for a long time.
As someone who has worked with dangerous & exotic animals, both large and small, for most of my life, he is reckless, irresponsible and boring (it was for television).
The reason for his "campaign" was to educate, but all he showed was animals going "oh shit, I'm being fucked with!" instead of just leaving them alone when he had great shots of them in their natural habitats.
I understand having to pull a python out of it's lair, but when you have a chameleon on a stick stalking a bug, leave it, let us watch it hunt... grabbing it and putting it on your hat it NOT educational. Endangering yourself with deadly snakes is NOT educational, showing us what they do in their natural habitat is, unless you are relocating them like Brady Barr...
Again, this is a tragedy for his family and friends and I do send loving and healing energy to them all.
I am very sorry for the painful death he suffered, but this was a long time coming and I hope that it helps to elevate the level of naturalist television.
Crikey !!! Stabbed in the heart !!!
I wonder if they got it on tape? I always figured he'd get mauled by a large cat or a bear or bitten by a poisonous snake.
A couple of the news accounts I've read state that it was filmed.
Plenty of tragedy to go around: now what will Animal Planet do without the Croikey!-Guy?
Steve was a world class noodler. I'll miss him.
*prepares for weeks of highlights, tributes, and marathons* ... which I will enjoy. A great loss.[COLOR="black"][/COLOR]
Said tributes have started. Turn on Animal Planet right now.
Being stabbed in the heart with this thing, covered with venom, must have been a great shock.:eek:
Well, at least he "died with his boots on." He was quite the showman and I'll miss him for that. :sniff:
Tis an awful thing, I wasnt a great "fan" but I really admired his spirit and dedication plus the things he has done for endangered and misunderstod animals worldwide.
His Australia Zoo is the cleanest and best presented place I have ever been too. Plus he wins big brownie points for the hundreds of acres of land he has been buying up around the globe that has been restored back to "natural" and left to the animals.
It was filmed, he was filming a docu and the 'ray "panicked" because it had a cameraman one side and Stevo above him...so it lashed out.
If he had been stung anywhere else on the body it most likely wouldnt of killed him.
A bit of a "wally" but an honest man with a really good heart.
See ya Stevo!!
A bit of a "wally"
I assume this meen Kook ???
On Stevo , well if you swim with sharks you WILL get BIT !!!!
It sucks on MANY levels , but he seemed to be haveing fun doing his thing .
He was definitely one of a kind. He may well have been the world's worst overactor, but his passion for conservation and critters in general made him more lovable than irritating. I was in a funk all day yesterday because of the news :(
The irony was humorous, though. Steve Irwin getting killed by a stingray is like Keith Richards dying from bad aspirin or something. He seemed a self-deprecating sort, I think he would've gotten the joke.
He could make anything seem exciting. "there's a common earthworm! Look at that blighter - what a beauty! Watch how it curls around when I pick shim up. Wow, check out all those segments!"
Last night they showed some home video of him as a youngster. He truly had a love and fascination with animals.
He believed that the future of conservation was dependent on people getting to see and know the animals, so they could come to care about them.
I'm holding my breath now waiting to see how the syndicated radio community will respond to this tragedy. Steve was a target for spoof artists.
Should they leave it alone awhile out of respect, or should they play the skits as an honorable tribute?
I won't mention any radio persons' names as you are all prooly already aware who they are.
counterpoint.
caution: distasteful remarks ahead.
good link.
That seems to be the consensus view locally. Their points are valid, but maybe slightly rigid.
I might as well take this upon myself:
"'The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and fifth ribs.' -- Steve Irwin"
<hastily dons hardhat>
Should they leave it alone awhile out of respect, or
I awoke this morning to my local station's morning show starting out discussing Irwin's demise, then playing an "interview" with him they did last year.
It was a parody. Never let it be said that commercial radio will let anything go by with respect. But I *do* agree about Irwin's sense of humor. I think he would, indeed, get the joke. After all, he is the guy who took his baby into a croc pit. Since that wasn't intended to be horror, it must have been humor, and dark humor at that.
Germaine Greer's piece in The Guardian - now there's a venomous reptile.
Bring me my harpoon.
she sure can fill out a page
What a dingbat! Has her vision become so clouded that she has to attack someone posthumusly to satisfy her own sense of self righteousness?
There's no doubt that Steve Irwin has done a few things in his time which have been questionable, however, the man had a passion which made it much easier to forgive these actions.
I was talking to my partner about this just the other day. Steve has been such a major figure for Australian tourism and conservation over recent years and his death made us feel like a friend we once knew had died.
Regardless of what you think of his actions, it's clear that the wildlife of Australia and possibly the world has lost a champion for their cause.
... But I *do* agree about Irwin's sense of humor. I think he would, indeed, get the joke...
I heard that he did a commercial for ESPN where he jumped on the mascot of the Florida Gators, who was in full gator costume, and wrestled with him. I was told it was very funny. If that's not self-parody, I don't know what is...
hmmmmmmph.....
Greer has gone full circle from 'rebel without a bra' to 'doyen of the pseudo-intlectuall set'.....
pass the matches and lets get back to basics....
I heard a quote from Jack Hannah, no small fry in the big zoological pond himself, regarding the unlikeliness of Irwin being killed by a mere stingray:
"Steve Irwin being killed by a stingray is as weird as me being killed by a poodle."
So that's Germaine Greer: sour, sour, sour. In a way, it's unfortunate her column is ephemeral, to pass and be forgotten with the rest. Don't recall ever hearing that she was an expert on animal psychology.
I heard that he did a commercial for ESPN where he jumped on the mascot of the Florida Gators, who was in full gator costume, and wrestled with him. I was told it was very funny. If that's not self-parody, I don't know what is...
A friend actually sent me the link to that today, it was very amusing.
Don't recall ever hearing that she was an expert on animal psychology.
Au contraire'. Doesn't a bitch know a thing or two about the other animals?
Though said in a much more unpleasant way, she pretty-much said what I did in my initial post.
It addressed the mean spirit of her article, but not my main problem with his career... It was very poorly written.
rkzen...
You may believe that how Steve Irwin conducted his life and his business was wrong and that's your right however, believe me when I tell you that how he behaved on camera was not an act. This man had a true passion for what he believed in, and that of course was conservation and education.
So I'm reading the article and thinking to myself, there is no way she's spewing this vitriolic bile out of the clear blue sky - there's gotta be some history between these two.
A little googling and I'd say its 50% man-hating, femi-Nazi-ism, 50% from his chummyness with John Howard/George Bush and 50% that she is also in the business of wildlife conservation in Austrailia and, its reasonable to assume, Irwin probably didn't treat her with the same reverence that most shriveled-up feminist intellectuals think they are entitled to.
Allow me to share a few of Ms. Greer's pearls of intellectual discourse with the class so that perhaps - don't get your hopes up-, someday, we can strip away the crusty outer shell of ignorance and self-delusion that keep regular folk like you and me writhing like one-celled amoeba in the bottom of the gene pool while Ms. Greer and her ilk look down upon us with the disdain and scorn we so richly deserve...
In 2003 she criticised J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy for attracting "spaced-out hippies, environmentalists, free-market libertarians, social conservatives, pacifists, new-age theosophists, sexists and racists the world over".
Referring to the many documentaries by Irwin, she had this to say:
"I am sick and tired of programmes that tell me that the world is full of wicked, nasty, powerful, deadly creatures. Why does Australia set itself up to be made into this hellhole?"
I wonder if she and Irwin locked horns at some point...
In addition to her writing, she has an active interest in conserving wildlife, managing an area of rainforest in Australia. She is also active in promoting insects living on brownfield sites, warning decision makers of the potential damage to biodiversity that would result if key sites were tidied up or developed.
And interestingly...
Greer was revealed as one of eight contestants in the 2005 series of [COLOR=#0000ff]Celebrity Big Brother[/COLOR]. She had previously said that the show was "as civilized as looking through the keyhole in your teenager's bedroom door".
Interesting comment from a thinking woman's woman given the book she published 24 months prior...
[COLOR=#0000ff]The Beautiful Boy[/COLOR] was published in 2003, an [COLOR=#0000ff]art history[/COLOR] book about the beauty of teenage boys, richly illustrated with 200 photographs of what The Guardian called "succulent teenage male beauty", alleging that Greer had reinvented herself as a "middle-aged [COLOR=#800080]pederast[/COLOR]." Greer described the book as an attempt to address women's apparent indifference to the teenage boy as a sexual object and to "advance women's reclamation of their capacity for, and right to, visual pleasure" (Greer 2003).
Well, Ms. Greer, if I had to choose between all the good and all the good will Steve Irwin did and proffered in his short career and your contribution to cockroach conservation, putting Tolkien fans in their place, pimping yourself on reality TV and, lastly, earning yourself an honorary lifetime membership to NAMBLA, then I'll have to go with Irwin.
Maybe, Ms. Greer, you can fall in the line of duty like Mr. Irwin did. For him, the animal kingdom he loved, respected and cared for is where his last moments were spent. Given your tepid and sordid contribution to humanity, I figure you'll end up face down somewhere a lot less flattering and with a lot less dignity.
HERE, HERE !!!!
Well said AGAIN Beestie !!!!
Beestie - LEGEND!!!! - way to take apart the crusty!!!!
I couldn't be as elequent as that in a million years.
Awesome stuff! Crikey mate, what a cracker!!!
Beestie, you really should get some kind of award for post #45. Very good.
Beestie for Rationalist King! Bravo, sir!
Damn, Beestie! I'll be surprised if she doesn't sue you over that come-uppance.:notworthy
You go Beestie!!! Our local news station did a poll as to who agreed with Germaine Greer's statement that "most" aussies share her views on Stevo... a stunning 11% agree with her but the other 89% of those polled think she should shut the hell up!!
She's a nasty, sour old b*tch that should mind her own business and leave Steve's family and freinds to grieve in peace instead of taunting them publicly. Where were her opinions when steve was dead and she could say them to his face so he could defend himself if he wanted?
I just find it a bit worrying that apparently his death is #3 on the top 100 google videos atm. Haven't seen it myself, so I can't verify whether or not it's genuine.
Edit: Oh, and Beestie? *high fives* well said.
I can't believe anyone would want to see a thing like that. It'd have to be traumatic.
I find it a bit hard to believe that the video got there at all, let alone so quickly. In fact, I think I'll not believe it until someone posts a legitimate link.
Um...okay...I saw stingrays, I heard noises...I didn't see anyone get stung in the chest.
It is fairly possible and in fact likely that these stingrays have been killed by fishermen (to avoid being stung; a common practice when a ray gets caught in a net) rather than angry fans, however, it's possible it was fans.
Occam's Razor applies here.
All they know is they've found killed stingrays. Occam's Razor prohibits introducing extraneous assumptions. But since there is nothing but dead fish, all assumptions would be extraneous. No speculation allowed? That's no fun, not being able to introduce conspiracy theories.:(
A lame attempt to gin up some news viewership. Like when they start covering wildfires, missing blond girls, or whatever the flavor of the week is. Nothing of new significance has happened; they just want to make you think that it has so that you'll tune in and watch their commercials.
The stingray fad doesn't have the momentum they're looking for, so coverage will cease shortly,, regardless of how many actually die.
On one hand, how do they know the stingrays are not dying of natural causes...perhaps grief over Steve?
On the other, if people really are seeking revenge...what do they think is going to happen? Stingrays are like "Oh shit, Bob Stingray ruined it for everyone. I TOLD him not to go around killing people. They are teaching us a lesson...stay away from humans, guys."
I doubt that the approach is a deterrent for stingrays, either.
Any time now, somebody's going to inject the missing blonde into the wet suit of the diver found dead of internal trauma in the middle of a burn area when the forest fire is out story.
[OT, I know, I know] As a forester's son, I rather object to the current fashion for calling forest fires "wildfires" -- that should be reserved for prairie fires being driven by forty-mph winds through dry country, crowned-out blazes, and other extreme fire conditions mean enough to chase you away from the fire line. Calling them wild fires just because they aren't neatly domesticated in fireplaces is stretching.
My wife and I just finished watching the PDT broadcast of the public Steve Irwin memorial on Animal Planet, which has been bidding Steve-o a long farewell these two weeks. I'm not really Catholic enough to be lighting ritual candles, but I did pull some incense from the canister and light that.
I'm not ashamed to say tears came. Not surprised, either.
I liked the songs, both of them; the short Aussie-country and the longer Aussie-folky. Even the poem the guy recited -- "The Crocodiles Are Crying" -- a most curious and remarkable mix of eloquent phrase and greeting-card rhyme. Hardly verse for the ages, but still I was leaking at the top and sniffling.
Then there were the totally unexpected bits. Daughter Bindi reading a statement that was a battle cry for conservation. The great big yellow Crikey -- no exclamation point needed -- at the very end.
I'm full up and spilling over.
"Flowers Of The Forest" -- if you know the tune, you know what I'm saying.
We were all teary at work too.
Two days of it now with Peter Brock's farewell yesterday.
Bindi did not sound like an 8 yr old.
I didnt know whether to be mortified or giggle at the fact that they *gave* away 2,000 tickets to the memorial last week and it didnt take more than a few hours for those tickets to appear on ebay.
Just one more example of how Pop Culture isn't really very cultured.
snip ~Bindi did not sound like an 8 yr old.~ snip
More like an 8 year old robot. I'd heard she had her own TV show and she sounded like it. :eek6:
I agree Bruce, I've gotten a lot of flack over voicing my opinions on Bindi Irwin..but i dont care.
Its sad to me that an 8 yr old can make a *speech* like that about her departed Father and NOT show any emotion, but also give a big *show* smile at the end.
This week we are being bombarded by Terri and Bindi on the TV again. This time they are via Current Affair and 60 minutes type shows...where they are talking about *life without Steve*.
Wow. Where did those come from?
I honestly thought they would never see the light of day.
She's the duck's nuts. Whadda ya expect? I'm sure she knows high people in places.
Still, he went diving in his clothes?
I heard the original film footage would never see the light of day.
However...there was an artist's rendition (photo shop or whatever) of what they believe happened after listening to the firsthand accounts of the eyewitness(s).
She's the duck's nuts. Whadda ya expect? I'm sure she knows high people in places.
Still, he went diving in his clothes?
Not diving, snorkeling. I'd read the shooting of his show had been held up so he and the cameraman(men)
went over to this area to shoot some quick footage for his daughters show.
Had he been wearing diving gear he might have survived. Just the additional protection would help, plus snorkeling his chest would be puffed up like a balloon and easy to penetrate.
The pictures could be phony, but they're possible. ;)
Animal Planet is airing a show with Steve and Bindi--footage I had not seen, even with the continuous shows right after his death.
He was talking about Bindi and how proud and happy he was that she inherited his passion for crocs and wildlife. It was incredibly poignant.
Shes a precious little brat in my opinion :)