"Crocodile Hunter" killed

[gd357]

Steve Irwin, the Croc hunter, was killed by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary. Terrible thing, but with all of the deadly poisonous creatures he handled, and toyed with, it's surprising it didn't happen sooner.

gd

[Brant Buster]

Have to agree with you GD357. Surprised it didn't happen sooner.

Now Irwin can compare notes with Tim Treadwell. :rolleyes:

[Valigator]

I guess the one great thing you can say about this , is the guy died doing what he loved.....feel sorry for his family and friends...people seemed to have loved him dearly.....

[Wahnie]

Steve was someone I truly admired, both as an entertainer and as a lover of all animals. I knew from the get go that he was destined to be killed by an animal, but I had always invisioned something a little more frightening like a lion, croc or being eaten by a really big snake. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Rest in peace, brother!

[fabsroman]

Not a great way to go, having your heart pierced by a stingray barb from the end of its tail. My chest hurts thinking about it.

Hopefully, people will learn from this and stay a little further away from wild animals. THEY ARE WILD.

People get careless over time. After being around crocs and other dangerous animals for so long, it seems as though he lost his fear of them.

I read that he was seen swimming extremely close to killer whales a year or two ago. Hello, last I checked killer whales eat seals which are about the same size as humans and everybody involved is a mammal. The whole episode with holding his kid while feeding a crocodile is another issue. As proven today, accidents do happen. Lucky for him and his kid that he didn't trip on something while he was feeding the croc.

At the end of the day, this is a sad happening because he appeared to be a really good guy and he is leaving a wife, a daughter, and a son behind, and the daughter is only 8 and the son is only 3.

[jon lynn]

I got the news here in Germany when you all were still sleeping, and SKY News reported he was the 3rd person in history to be recorded as killed by a stingray...............cracky...............I think he was a likeable guy, and really enjoyed life. If I could go out doing what I love, so be it. Better than going by a sucking chest wound!

Rest in peace mate................:(

[Rocky Raab]

I'll say up front that I never liked the guy. I'm truly sorry that he is dead, but it's hardly surprising.

What upsets me most is that he seems to have set a threshold for animal shows. Everybody now has to do stupid things with truly dangerous critters, or be labelled as somehow less courageous than Irwin. Whereas to my mind, being a bit more cautious (or less reckless) than him is simply being smarter, more cognizant of the fact that wild animals are wild. And it extends past TV shows. How many young men will die trying to "kiss" a rattler, feed a wild gator or pet a shark?

I'm also sincerely glad that none of his family will ever again be placed in jeopardy by his unthinking acts. His best contribution to humanity may be to serve as a bad example. "This is what happens when you let ego and bravado overrule common sense."

[Brant Buster]

Well said Rocky.

I also thought Irwin's antics were foolhearty, nor was I taken in by his celebrity. Its very unfortunate his 3YO sone will never truly know his 'dad,' nor the daughter for that matter.

As for animal shows, I take Jeff Corwin's show with a grain of salt, and the one bloke who likes to antagonize snakes before photographing them. However, when I'm able to see The Killer Instinct, that program with Rob Brittle has been worthwhile, IMO. And Jack Hanna.

[skeet]

Hate the fact that he is dead..but as Rocky said..play with fire and you get burned.

http://video.ap.org/v/en-ap/v.htm?f=...B84DC&p=&t=s60
Hopefully you can paste that and go to a video link about his death

[Valigator]

I had this conservation with friends tonight, many of them dont get what I do....this year, the 11 footer got especially mean and nasty. there was only the two of us on the boat and he was in no position to be in any proximity to help me....He did yell from above, get back baby get back he's gonna jump in the boat!!! all the while chomping on the side of the boat...I have seen that before and never gave any slack.....I can tell you that when I was attached to him, nothing on God's green earth would have let me go of him...He was mine, he was a nice trophy and come hell or high water, I wasnt lettin go.....that could have killed me....or it could have brought him in....it has always brought him in for me...but Lord only knows it could have turned out differently, all I am saying is I have always banked on me not the gator, and I have always won...

Somehow I think Steve was bullet proof and invisable... I almost think thats what you have to be to go after the bad boys....just my two cents////

[Dom]

Since I don't watch much TV, maybe I'm off base, but from what I seen there was no comparison between Irwin and Treadwell. The few shows I seen Irwin on he appeared well knowledgeable about the animals and what you do or do not do to them. Foolhardy? Probably, but he had a lot of passion for the animals and for that I give him credit. I also don't know what his take was on hunters, but if he was a true conservationist, he would know that hunters contribute and put back into wildlife many times over what they take.

Compared to Treadwell? Nah, no way, not from what I seen, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[M.T. Pockets]

I never watched the guy, I heard him slam hunting & hunters once and I never went out of my way to give him any time after that.

[Steverino]

I personally wasn't an avid watcher of Steve's but I have to admit that the shows I did watch were both entertaining as well as informative. Over the top? Perhaps, but if I wanted to just stare at an animal, I'll go to the zoo. At least the shows that I watched, he did caution viewers that wha he was doing was dangerous and shouldn't be repeated etc, etc.

I was shocked to hear how he bought it though as I typically think of stingrays as these docile, graceful swimmers of the deep. I guess they are wild.

One of the news stories that I read stated that Steve's camermen confided that he would probably be killed at sea because of all of the unknowns in the underworld environment.

[Classicvette63]

If you want to risk your neck doing stupid things, that's fine. But now there is a widow and two young children who are without a father. I hope the cheap thrills were worth it.

This is a pet peeve of mine nowadays. Seems that people don't understand their responsibility to others. Everyone just wants to do "whatever they want".

[DaMadman]

well I normally would just close a thread like this on huntchat and not say anything but nah not going to this time. To all that think Irwin was just another Timothy Treadwell, you are very close minded and apparently didn't watch Irwin's show enough to form a VALID opinion.

He was very well informed about the animals he worked with and he lived in the bush for many years catching Croc's and removing them from places that they were considered to be a nuisance and placing them in his parents park. He is no different in one aspect then that Guy named Todd (don't remeber the last name) that is on the Animal Cops show all the time removing nuisance gators down in Florida.

Irwin did on occasion seem to let his love and admiration for animals get a little over zelous but he alway kept his wits about himself in the end.

Also for whom ever said that Rob Bredl was any better/different than Steve Irwin, you need to maybe watch a few more episodes of each... I have seen Bredl get flat out bitten to the point he was spouting blood and act like he did't care one way or the other, I also have seen him get bitten by a poison snake or two, and a crocodile because he was playing to the camera. Don't get me wrong I like Both Rob and Steve's shows and think they are both amazing people.

I just have a hard time believing how close minded some people are... Just because these guys get so overly excited about getting close to wild animals and take risks that you and I wouldn't take doesn't make them fool hearty or wrong. It is what they truely believe in and they are trying to save the animals in their own way.

One last thing.... for whoever heard Steve Irwin bash hunters maybe you should have taken a closer listen. I don't know what he could have said bad because I personally seen an episode where Irwin was boar hunting with dogs to catch and kill wild boars in Autralia to use as food for his crocs or bait for his Croc traps and he also said that the wild boar in Autralia should be hunted because it was a non-native species and was harming the natural environment. So knowing that he said that I am sure that he knows the importance that hunting plays in the overall balance of nature...So I don't know that I believe that he was bashing hunters, as one thing that many people have said about Irwin was his views didn't often change.

Anyway all that is written above is purely and soley the opinion of one and only one person and that is me, with as much fact as I could gather to back my opinion. My opinions often time agree with other's opinions and other times disagree. So take them for what they are worth and since my opinions are free don't complain cause you didn't pay much for them.... LOL

[8X56MS]

I always get a chuckle out of 'he died doing what he loved'. Bet if he had his druthers, he would prefer to be doing something he loved less, but could love longer.

Still, any one's death is sad, and his seems to be particularly serendipitous.

[M.T. Pockets]

If Steve Irwin ever showed hunters in a positive light, I apologize. Again, I could take or leave him and his shows, they just didn't interest me.

The piece I did happen to catch a few years ago was in Africa when he was trying to see how close he could sneak up on a Lion. Then he went on to tell us how magnificant these species were and that he couldn't believe how people were still hunting them and that it needed to be stopped to save the species. He wasn't talking about poachers, he was very clear that Hunters were threatening the existance of Lions in Africa.

Well I'm no biologist, but if it weren't for the modern day hunter there are many species in Africa that would no longer exist.

Again, I don't like to see anyone getting killed, but I'll save my tears for the National Guard soldier from just North of here that was killed in Iraq last week.

[Aim to maim]

Originally posted by M.T. Pockets

Again, I don't like to see anyone getting killed, but I'll save my tears for the National Guard soldier from just North of here that was killed in Iraq last week.

Amen!

[Steverino]

It appears as though Irwin was an 'Anti'



With his trademark khaki shorts, chirpy manner and an obvious love of wildlife, Steve Irwin was known to television viewers around the world simply as "the crocodile hunter".
But Steve Irwin's popular image, wrestling crocs and other creatures, belied the fact that he was implacably opposed to the hunting, not just of crocodiles, but of any animal.

A natural showman as well as a conservationist and zoo owner, Irwin was committed to educating people about wildlife.

He often did this by putting himself at great risk, confronting crocodiles, venomous snakes and other dangerous beasts in their own environment. This fascinating television was often punctuated by his trademark yell of "Crikey!"

But his unconventional approach drew criticism from those who believed his idiosyncratic style to be irresponsible and cavalier.

Family tradition

Steve Irwin was born in Essendon in Victoria, Australia, in February 1962. In 1970, his parents founded the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, later to become Australia Zoo, on the country's Sunshine Coast.

The park specialised in rehabilitating ill or injured baby kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and koalas, and Steve Irwin grew up surrounded by wildlife.




Irwin in pictures
When his father, Bob, decided to do something about the hunting which threatened to destroy Australia's crocodile population, Steve played his part, working for Australia's Crocodile Relocation Programme which captured and moved the reptiles to safer areas, often to the Australia Zoo.

When television director John Stainton first encountered Steve Irwin, while shooting an advertisement at Australia Zoo, he immediately realised that he had a new star on his hands.

The first episode of Stainton's show, The Crocodile Hunter, was built around a crocodile trapping trip that Irwin and his Oregon-born wife Terri Baines undertook for their honeymoon.

Discovery Channel bought the programme in 1996 and it rapidly became a phenomenon, being screened in 130 countries and bringing both Stainton and Irwin great wealth.


Serious commitment

In January 2004, Irwin faced a barrage of criticism after being filmed holding his infant son in one arm while feeding a chicken carcass to a 4-metre saltwater crocodile with the other. At the time, he said: "I was in complete control of the crocodile."


Irwin took over the wildlife park his parents had set up
Despite his often light-hearted manner, Steve Irwin's commitment to protecting crocodiles was serious. "Every chance I get, I will put my life on the line to save crocs," he told one interviewer.

Irwin's other programme The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries and New Breed Vets, were also great hits, especially in the United States, and he was feted by television interviewers like Jay Leno, Larry King and Oprah Winfrey.

He even played a cameo role in the 2001 Eddie Murphy film, Dr Doolittle 2, before hitting the big screen the following year with his own movie, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.

And a measure of Steve Irwin's fame came when Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, who described him as "one of Australia's great conservation icons," personally invited the environmentalist to a barbecue for President George W Bush in Canberra in 2003.

[gregarat]

Even though he assulted my team mascot("Albert the Gator" U.F.).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU0UFbxZDGM

Im still sad for his family:( .


Personaly Im not suprised that he died, but in the manner in which he died. Stingray deaths are extreamly rare. From what I hear, he alwayes knew he was going to "bite it" in the water. You are not as quick and nimble in water, as on land.