Steve "Croc Hunter" Irwin

[blackdog~ 0]

Steve Irwins "risk taking" was nothing to do with having commercially to get an audience, you can just see from watching him, he was truely passionate about what he was doing, and he really believed he was doing good. Behind the "crazy aussie who wrestles crocs" persona, he was also a committed conservationalist and wildlife expert, and his way of making people care about wildlife was to try and make it exciting for them, and to try and get people involved in conserving our natural world.

You may all bash him as irresponsible or wreckless, but in (roughly) his own words "if you can't make people interested about it, how the heck are we going to save it?", so yes, you may think he was irresponsible, you may think he was wreckless, but if he was, only in an attempt to make us all care about the natural world before we destroy it through our own irresponsibility. It's a pretty noble goal, and if he was willing to risk his own life to make us care, i don't see how you can criticise that. Sad maybe that he had to go to such extremes to make the rest of us care about the things that mattered to him...Steve Irwin, i salute you.

I think I would have to agree with you on basically all points there Pathy.

As for the baby dangling incident, I'm not really sure what he was thinking, but you know how irresponsible new Dads are with babies sometimes...

[-MP-OFP-CRICON 0]

[Nemesis6 0]

As for the baby dangling incident, I'm not really sure what he was thinking, but you know how irresponsible new Dads are with babies sometimes...

That baby dangling incident is right out of the book of Jackson. Only difference is, people like Steve Irwin. And I'm sure he was a great guy.

Rest in peace, Steve. Although I gotta admit, I never got over your funny accent!

[Garcia 0]

As for the baby dangling incident, I'm not really sure what he was thinking, but you know how irresponsible new Dads are with babies sometimes...

That baby dangling incident is right out of the book of Jackson. Only difference is, people like Steve Irwin. And I'm sure he was a great guy.

Rest in peace, Steve. Although I gotta admit, I never got over your funny accent!  

Doesn't really matter if you find his accent funny or not. It's one of the things that made Steve Irwin Steve Irwin, one of many things that made up his personality. Besides, I think he probably was proud of his rather funny accent

[mattxr 9]

he wasnt criticizing his accent.. and i agree with pathy, sometimes people have to take it to the top to get people to reliase what they are doing and change there ways.. i used to watch a lor of his stuff of the discovery channel.

i never heard about the baby thing, looking at that picture thats quite scary.

[Balschoiw 0]

No big surprise he died. I guess it was just a matter of time.

Animals are sometimes dangerous and if you toy around with them like that guy did, it doesn´t surprise me much that he got killed.

As for the "a real man´s death" nonsense: He had a family, he had kids, he played with his life and the life of his crewmembers. I´d say he was a man who missed his responsibilities more than a dozen times and was no good example on how to interact with dangerous animals.

RIP

[Garcia 0]

he wasnt criticizing his accent..  

I never said he did...

[ozanzac 0]

As for the "a real man´s death" nonsense: He had a family, he had kids, he played with his life and the life of his crewmembers. I´d say he was a man who missed his responsibilities more than a dozen times and was no good example on how to interact with dangerous animals.

RIP

Balschoiw, it's merely a figure of speech. The guy died, doing what he had passion for. Documenting dangerous animals, and raising awareness in the interests of conservation.

It was his passion, and yes, he flirted with danger everytime he went out and did it, just as do every time you accept to be sent on a peacekeeping mission. Someone's got to do it, and there's only a select few, who are willing to put their hand up, and take on the job.

He didn't have to bring cameras, out along for the ride, but he did, and did it with style and a charisma that's unrivalled.

Would the world have been better off without a 'Steve Irwin', hamming it up?

I'd say a wide range of demographics, would have had a lesser opinon on conservation, without him.

[Shashman 0]

Quote[/b] ]

Greer should shut up, says Rudd

September 06, 2006 10:05am

Article from: AAP

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FEMINIST Germaine Greer should keep her thoughts about the death of Steve Irwin to herself, Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said today.

In an article in British newspaper The Guardian, Ms Greer said that the animal world had finally taken revenge on Irwin for causing stress to the animals he handled.

"I think Germaine Greer should just stick a sock in it," Mr Rudd said in Canberra today.

"You have got a grieving mother, you have got a couple of grieving young kids and a grieving nation and what to you get from Germaine Greer? You get a bucket load of politically correct pap – it's just nonsense.

"Steve Irwin was a nature conservationist, an animal conservationist and made a huge contribution to the preservation of wildlife worldwide.

"And what do we get from Germaine Greer? - some gratuitous, politically correct claptrap. She should put a sock in it," he said.

Greer said she had "not much sympathy" for Irwin if he was grappling with the stingray that killed him on the Great Barrier Reef.

Those on the boot with Irwin say he was not in any way harassing the stringray when it lashed out at him as he swan over it.

But The Guardian quoted Greer as saying: "As a Melbourne boy, Irwin should have had a healthy respect for stingrays, which are actually commoner and bigger in southern waters than they are near Port Douglas."

She described Irwin's behaviour as "bizarre", noting the famed incident when he held his baby son while feeding a crocodile during a show at his Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast.

"The whole spectacle was revolting," Greer said.

"The crocodile would rather have been anywhere else and the chicken had a grim life too, but that's entertainment at Australia Zoo.

"The animal world has finally taken its revenge on Irwin, but probably not before a whole generation of kids in shorts seven sizes too small has learned to shout in the ears of animals with hearing ten times more acute than theirs, determined to become millionaire animal-loving zoo-owners in their turn."

Police yesterday said footage of the incident showed Irwin in no way harassed or provoked the stingray.

WTF...

[VISTREL 0]

oh yeah, Ive heard about her...makes me so mad.......

what a way to get publicity of other great person's death

[Freshman 0]

I always thought that it would be just a matter of time till something happens. He was great. I really liked him.

RIP

[bn880 5]

Well yes, but this was a freak accident. Sting rays are generally very docile creatures, very unlikely to respond in an aggressive manner. In general they run away, they don't attack. They are very popular with divers and considered to be fairly safe to be around.

In case they are completely cornered they can instinctively react by putting up their barbed tail. This is very rare, but it is really one in a million that at the moment it put up its tail a human would be directly above it, positioned in such a way that the barb penetrated the chest and could go straight through the heart.

not unless you are poking at it.. you seen him with snakes and crocks, you know what hes like..

RIP . Steve

You know mate, thats a load of... he wasn't poking at it, but I'm sure he made a bad assumption about how restrained stingrays are, probably startled it from above like a predator. Not on purpose...

Assumptions will get you every time.

[Major Fubar 0]

I was brought up to believe that if you had nothing nice to say about someone, you shouldn't say anything at all.

So I won't.

Just that it's a shame that people like Fred Hollows die with barely a passing mention, yet others get mourned as though they were the second coming simply for being famous...it's a strange world...

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Yes Fubar. I fully agree with your point. In my eyes there are miles between zoologist and documentary filmmakers such as our german Heinz Sielmann and the australian Steve Irwin.

I didnt agree with his idea to make nature documentaries interesting for main stream viewers neither with the way he chose to achieve it.

He was killed by an animal with a dangerous weapon but with a peaceful mind and clear body language. This tells a lot. In the end he faced an animal that behaved the way he wanted to portray it like.

But it seems I am less sensitive to criticise a dead celebrity. He never properly respected what I respect, so why should I respect him? Because of his mainstream fame?

[JdB 151]

Quote[/b] ]startled it from above like a predator. Not on purpose...

Most predators sneak up on their prey from below, which minimizes their risk of being spotted, since it is harder to spot something that is blended by the seabed then when it is in sharp contrast to the surface/air.

[bn880 5]

Right... especially when the stingray is on the floor mate... come on, give it a rest. If the predator always stirikes from the bottom, the stingray will eventually have eyes there too.

Also, about mainstreaming nature, its a forward looking approach. Its the same as any modern succesfull education system. If you adapt to you student's intrests and behaviour while getting a point across, you all win.

[[aps]gnat 28]

Also, about mainstreaming nature, its a forward looking approach.  Its the same as any modern succesfull education system.  If you adapt to you student's intrests and behaviour while getting a point across, you all win.

Yep, and he funneled much of the money he made back in to buy land to preserve habitats and spent plenty with respected researchers as they persuied their own attempts to preserve and educate.

"Philippe Cousteau, grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, was working with Steve Irwin on a Discovery Channel project called "Ocean's Deadliest" when the popular TV naturalist died this week in a stingray attack."

Larry King Live

Quote[/b] ]COUSTEAU: .......... Absolutely not. It was a freak accident, but it doesn't stop us from doing what we have to do to bring the wonder of nature and all of these creatures to everybody.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Quote[/b] ]Also, about mainstreaming nature, its a forward looking approach. Its the same as any modern succesfull education system. If you adapt to you student's intrests and behaviour while getting a point across, you all win.

modern successfull education? What do his films have to do with education? Are you talking about Croko-wrestling techniques? He made a sort of MTV Nature-Jackass and the target groups was kids with an attention deficiency syndrome.

Action, Action, Action, that was what it was all about. Exaggerated tone, exaggerated movements, little info but lots "dangerous" moments. Las Vegas Style!

I dont know what you think of teens of today, but the ones I know dont need and dont want this popcorn entertainment for education. They want ethology, they want breathtaking pictures of nature at its purest (without an australian Teletubby on Ecstasy in it). They want to see how animals behave when they are alone by themselves (actually that was what nature films initially were all about). There are so many pure and emotional moments that wildlife has to offer, I doubt I need any more fake pepper being added to it.

I guess thats the reason why I believe this man was never realy popular in Germany.

So is "grandson" Cousteau now going to continue with Stingray Wrestling? I hope not cause he didnt seem to have learned enough from his father. Stingrays dont do "freak" attacks! They give clear signals. Isnt it suprising that stingrays are rarely involved in accidents but still it happened to Steve Irwin, who tends to provoke such situations?

(sorry for sounding cynical, but thats unfortunately the way I write and argue... but I guess most of you know that by now and dont take it personally not consider me to be arrogant or so)

[deanosbeano 0]

well kinda on topic, just opened google homepage and one of to days wiki how to tips = how to survive a stingray attack.

Looks like he was real unfortunate to die .

Ah well, i enjoyed his films , i think they made great revenue for him to be avle to educate back at his zoo. imo

[Pathy 0]

Albert. A) have you actually ever watched Steve Irwins programmes? B) soon as you seem to know so much about the attack (you claim it was provoked, you claim he was wrestling it, ect), i assume you've seen the video of his death?

Or are you just so determined to be right that you'll pull it out your arse?

[JdB 151]

Many people here acusse Steve of trying to make money, wanting to be a millionaire, I already know he wasn't, so I had a little look-around and found this article from Discovery Network:

Quote[/b] ]Irwin Was a Self-Made 'Wildlife Warrior'

Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

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Sept. 5, 2006 — Steve Irwin may have been best known for his wildly popular Crocodile Hunter series on Animal Planet, but he also dedicated a great deal of time and earnings to wildlife conservation efforts that many people — including some of his closest colleagues and friends — were unaware of.

"Until his death, when we began to go over his work, I hadn't fully appreciated his commitment to conservation," Ginette Hemley, vice president for species conservation at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), told Discovery News.

"Steve Irwin put his money where his mouth was at, and he often did this quietly and effectively with little or no promotion."

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She explained that Irwin partnered with the WWF to fund endangered species conservation in Africa and Asia, where he provided "critical support" in Manas National Park, India. That funding was used, in part, to buy field equipment for workers patrolling the forests there against poachers.

Irwin took a special interest in saving tigers, since they remain one of the world's most endangered species.

In Africa, he also assisted the WWF with funding for projects to save cheetahs and other wildlife.

"His efforts got money to the ground level where it was most needed," Hemley said.

Irwin and his wife used money from their Crocodile Hunter earnings to buy wilderness lands in Fiji, Tasmania, the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and the United States.

In particular, Irwin was devoted to purchasing, and then salvaging, wilderness tracts in his homeland of Australia. There he bought a large region west of Brisbane near the Murray-Darling Basin.

He also purchased land near his Australia Zoo in Beerwah to save the habitats of tree-dwelling marsupials known as gliders, as well as wallabies, snakes, platypuses and other creatures, many native to Australia.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said Irwin expressed an interest in helping its population recovery efforts for the northern hairy-nosed wombat.

Another website:

Quote[/b] ]As testimony to their commitment to conservation and the environment, Steve and Terri have purchased over 60,000 acres of wildlife-sensitive land and are working towards the rehabilitation and breeding of some of the world's most endangered animals. At Australia Zoo, they have established a breeding program to help such endangered species as the southern cassowary, koala, giant land tortoise, Fijian crested iguana and Komodo dragon, to name just a few. The zoo, a dedicated conservation area covering over 250 acres, earned Australia's most prestigious tourism award as "Major Tourist Attraction" for 2003.

This kind of charitable work does not pay for itself, despite of what some people here make him out to be, a money hungry wannabe star that was in it for the fame. His family has also refused a state funeral as the family wants him to be remembered as a regular guy, who did his piece to conserve what is left of our poluted planet.

[bn880 5]

Ahh that's refreshing to see, not just the obsession on his fame. Thanks JdB.

[Nemesis6 0]

About time, a flash movie, although short, about Steve's departure - http://newgrounds.com/portal/view/337057

[bn880 5]

I don't know if it's just me, but it's not something on my "to watch" list if it's what I think it is. Let's do Steve a favour and look at some animals instead... how about some tigers, or gorillas? Eh? (or maybe that's just an animation.. flash.. ok nvm I suppose)

[JdB 151]

He's gone to wrestle the great croc in the sky.

That pretty much describes the content of the above Flashmovie, I had expected worse...