‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin dies

[myname1960]

I am sure many of you have heard of Steve Irwin the Crocodile hunter and i have just seen on the Associated Press (AP) that he has just died by a stingray. Here is part of what i read.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/
‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin dies
Naturalist, 44, killed by stingray on diving expedition, police say
BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition, police said. He was 44.
Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Irwin was diving near Low Isles Reef near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of the state capital of Brisbane.
Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef but refused to say who the victim was until relatives had been notified.
A rescue helicopter was sent from the nearby city of Cairns, and paramedics from it confirmed the diver’s death.
“The probable cause of death is stingray strike to the chest,” Hamil said.
Staff at Australia Zoo, Irwin’s zoo in southern Queensland, said they had heard the reports but could not comment.
He is survived by his American wife Terri, from Oregon, and their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

 

[ophiura]

Just read this too.

He was a quirky guy, but it was genuine love of wildlife, that people (especially kids) could appreciate. He will definitely be missed.

 

[patandlace]

O man. I can't believe it! He was a cool dude.

 

[tx reef]

Originally Posted by ophiura

Just read this too.

He was a quirky guy, but it was genuine love of wildlife, that people (especially kids) could appreciate. He will definitely be missed.

I agree. Truly a sad day. He will definately be missed.

 

[tx reef]

It is hard to imagine the Crocodile Hunter actually getting killed. He always seemed "invincible".

 

[djm]

It is sad because Steve had such a great personality. His death should not be a complete surprise to anyone because, not unlike the New Orleans hurricane or "The Big One" earthquake that will some day remove Los Angeles from the face of the planet, it wasn't a question of "if" but merely a matter of "when".
RIP Steve. You were truly a remarkable example of a human being and will be missed.

 

[gsd]

Fool with critters that can hurt or kill you enough and eventually your number comes up. I think a big part of why lots of foks watched his shows was the chance he may get bit or injured. Face it lots of folks are facinated with such things that are hazzardous.

 

[clowntrigger2k]

VERY SAD HE WAS AWESOME AT WHAT HE DID . AT LEAST HE WENT DOING WHAT HE LOVED MOST WORKING WITH ANIMALS REST IN PEACE STEVE

 

[mrdc]

I just read the article myself. I always thought a crocodile or snake would do him in. Man, I can't believe he's gone. I loved his passion for wildlife and life in general.

 

[beth]

I was pretty shocked this morning, and sad. I can't help but wonder...if he had only struck to what he knew so well. Reptiles. I hope his zoo is able to continue somehow without his celebrity funding.

 

[djm]

I can't help but wonder...if he had only struck to what he knew so well. Reptiles.

EXACTLY. I made the same point in another thread here about Manny Puig messing around with venomous snakes. Manny has as little business messing around with reptiles as Steve did with underwater creatures. Then again, Manny has been known to hang out with the Jackass boys (Bam Margera, Steve-O, Johnny Knoxville, et al...) so I'll mourn Manny's death when he is bitten by a Gila monster as much as I cry for Mr. Irwin being stabbed to death by a stingray.
I am not coldhearted at all. I just know that wanting to be a huge celebrity shouldn't necessarily require one to become a complete idiot.

 

[imurnamine]

I read about that, too, this morning... Just kind of rips your heart out... He seemed like such a wonderful man.
The sad part is that he has two children and a wife, still...

 

[beth]

Originally Posted by Beth
I am not coldhearted at all. I just know that wanting to be a huge celebrity shouldn't necessarily require one to become a complete idiot.
I'm sure they are pressured by producers to "go beyond". In the surviver crazed world we live in, if there isn't non stop thrills, we loose interest. I'm sure the Croc Hunter, being so dedicated to wildlife as he was, wanted to use his celebrity to promote wildlife and expand human knowledge and appreciation.
In any case, I'm sure this thread was not meant to start a debate about should he or should he not. He was an adult and had the right to do whatever he wanted to do.
I will miss him. The wildlife of the world has lost their most vigorous advocate. Its a great loss for wildlife lovers as well.

 

[moraymike]

Originally Posted by ophiura

Just read this too.

He was a quirky guy, but it was genuine love of wildlife, that people (especially kids) could appreciate. He will definitely be missed.
He was a wonderful man, and had a great life. He will be missed... We should keep him "alive" in our memories, and we should all do just a bit more to promote his passions, wildlife. Most importantly, we need to keep his message out there for the children...

 

[mimzy]

Was SHOCKED to read this in the news this morning. That poor family... he's got a wife and 2 kids. I can't help but wonder if it isn't the teeniest bit irresponsible to be risking one's life so flagrantly when there's a family to be cared for. ....Although, he was a huge and fantastic wildlife educator...and no one lives forever anyway. I hope his children and his friends will continue down the path he blazed. I'm sure we'll see a Steve Irwin Foundation at some point in the future as well. He will certainly be missed.

 

[poniegirl]

Another huge, empty spot in the world. The loss of that much vitality is heart-breaking.

 

[imurnamine]

Originally Posted by Mimzy
Was SHOCKED to read this in the news this morning. That poor family... he's got a wife and 2 kids. I can't help but wonder if it isn't the teeniest bit irresponsible to be risking one's life so flagrantly when there's a family to be cared for. ....Although, he was a huge and fantastic wildlife educator...and no one lives forever anyway. I hope his children and his friends will continue down the path he blazed. I'm sure we'll see a Steve Irwin Foundation at some point in the future as well. He will certainly be missed.

I was kind of thinking that, too...
Why would someone do things like that when they have a wife and children?
I answered my question. It was his passion. A passion that was obviously there before his wife or children.
I then thought, 'Why would his wife encourage it?'.
Again, I answered my question. Because it was Irwin's passion. She wanted him to be happy. She wanted him to thrive with his life and make the best of it...
As mentioned above, the man died doing what he loved... I think that everyone deserves that.

 

[ophiura]

Look, IMO, this was a FREAK thing. A really freak thing. It is not easy to even get stung by a stingray, but to be stung basically through the heart? That doesn't happen often. While he was "out there" with some of the stuff he did, that IS in part why people watched. It is the familiarity factor that people bought into, and so it translated into why we needed to protect these animals. It is nice to film animals from hundreds of feet away, but the hands on "I WILL die to protect these animals" is what really got the buy in. That is the passion. The familiarity, the closeness that he had with animals, is what people understood and why they listened to his message. It works better - gets more people watching - then your "wild kingdom" approach. If one person, probably now a child, has picked up the same passion, then to some degree, it is worth it.
His family had to know that there were risks, but you STILL have far more risk of dying driving every day then being killed by a sting ray spine through the heart. Would you drive when you have a family? But there was a PURPOSE to his passion. I agree that things like climbing mount Everest? Things that really serve no greater purpose than your own personal challange? Hey, stop it when the kids come...but there are things that have a great impact on others, and the planet, and then I say do it!
He really, IMO, established a genre...now there are all sorts of "snake and reptile" personalities out there, but few, IMO, had the magnetism of Steve Irwin.
Just a freak thing.

 

[beth]

I agree that you can't change who you are and what you believe in just because you get married and have kids. His wife shares his passions. They were teaching their children to share in those passions. A worthy cause, IMO.
Ophiura is right. It was a weird freak accident. Some jobs just entail taking risks. Would you wonder if a fireman was being a responsible husband/father if they got killed in a fire?? NO!! This was Steve's job and he touched the world. In my eye, he did a heck of lot of good and deserves to be remembered as a great guy who loved wildlife. Not second guessing about his decisions in life. I can't imagine that he would have been a happy person in life had he lived any other way.

 

[gexkko]

He was a great conservationist, and I applaud him for every effort and every bit of progress he made.
His wife was in the exact same field. She helped run the zoo, went out on expeditions, helped rescue animals, etc etc.
His father was a crocodile/reptile conservationist. So was his grandfather.
People ask why he did such "crazy" things for entertainment. He wasn't doing crazy things for entertainment, because he was doing them well before TV ever got to him. It was in his blood, it was his passion, it was his life. How could his wife support him? She MET him while he was doing one of his "crazy" demos at the zoo. She knew what she was getting into, and loved it.
He did more for the betterment of the planet than most people even think about doing in their entire lifetimes. He's been working to save natures creatures since he was only a small kid.
Quite honestly, the whole 'stop the craziness when you have kids' is hypocritical. You wouldn't dare tell a fireman to stop running into burning buildings, nor a officer to stop placing him/herself in the 'line of fire.' You certainly wouldn't even think to tell that to a third generation fireman/officer. Why do it to Steve? He was a great man with a passion for saving the planet, both through active conservation and education through one of the most powerful media outlets ever seen. He risked his life to save others on a daily basis, and deserves respect and thanks from us all.
Also, as Ophiura said, he has a higher likelyhood of one of his snakes escaping at the zoo and biting him while he slept than being stung through the heart by a stingray.