British Expatriate Network

I guess I thought Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter was invincible. I was sad to see tonight that he has just been killed by a stingray while filming another of his features.

I know he wound a lot of people up but when I first came to live here, he was really riding high with his Animal Planet shows and I quite enjoyed the presentations. It was a lot of showmanship but his enthusiasm for the animals and their welfare came through almost every time.

Rest in peace Steve Irwin.

I was just listening to local radio on the BBC when I heard the news. I liked Steve Irwin's shows for all his energy, and to me his enthusiasm wasnt put on, that was just his character. He seemed dice with death at times and according to what I read on the BBC news article to die from a sting from a stingray is rare. Shame that.

http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5311298.stm

That is such a shame. I suppose he died doing what he loved doing best. He was just so enthusiastic about dealing with animals. He will be missed.

I was just reading it on yahoo as I signed on this morning. This is just so sad ( We all loved watching him in this house and like you said, Pilgrim, his love and care for all animals was just fantastic. He was so passionate to show how animals lived in their natural environments.

He will be missed. cry

Very sad he knew and loved the animal kingdom ,and his shows gave pleasure to many folks young and old .

Ironic that his death came from one of the most unlikely sourses of all the animals he interacted with .

Condolences to his family and friends ,

:( He was a great charcter. Somehow, you tend to believe people who take risks like he did are invincible, just like you never think racing drivers will die in a crash during a race.

His death follows that of a 175-year-old tortoise who spent her last years at their zoo.

news story

Britnet thread

Steve Irwin, Crocodile hunter. Killed by a Fish. For years this guys been tormenting animals on tv. Do we have the same sympathy for people who go swimmimng with great white sharks then get eaten? Its amazing he lasted this long. Remember him feeding the crocoldile with his baby in his arms?
My sympathies go out to his family, but wild animals are just that. remember the Bear guy? Studied Bears, lived with Bears, eventually eaten by Bears. sooner or later it will happen, the wildlife will get you.

servalan I hear what you say, but feel he done greater good for wildlife than harm.

He was a larger than life individual and I guess even he could be laughing at being tagged by a sting ray like this.

Things I have learnt about wild animals is that they are all individuals like us and react in very different ways to situations.

He will be missed.


RIP

He was a good guy. He highlighted a lot of conservation problems as well as introducing people to some of the less loved members of the animal kingdom and taught us they needed to be protected too.

Servelan, I think he did that with his baby because he was brought up in the same way.

I agree with you.

There are plenty of ways to teach the genereal public about conservation and wildlife without going to the extremes that he did. David Attenborough is a perfect example...

But David Attenborough was so dull -he almost turned people off rather than onto wildlife and conservation.

I have been at a loss to know what to say about this. He was entertaining and his form of entertainment also educated and enthused. His way was not the Attenborough way, but was effective in the modern world.

To tell the truth, most nature programmes bore me to tears and I would only ever watch them if there wasn't so much as an informercial to watch instead! However, Steve Irwin was different - like David Bellamy - his way of talking and interacting with the animals was enough to make you stop and look. Like it or not. He was a real Crocodile Dundee, but you're right - if you play with fire you're likely to get burnt. Siegfried and Roy also come to mind.

Attenbrough had his demographic and I suppose Irwin had another, far larger one.

I think maybe sometimes people miss what he was doing. "The Crocodile Hunter" wasn't actually hunting crocodiles or other animals to make purses out of them - he was catching them so that they could be removed to a safer environment. At the same time, it brought previously unfashionable and uncared for "bad guy" creatures to the same level as other, cuddly, fluffy animals that people love to "save" - making them all part of the same conservation picture, rather than picking and choosing which ones to save and which to hunt to extinction, for their skins or simply because we chose not to like them.

His methods are something I have no expertise in whatsoever - I understand that a few Australians have wrestled with crocodiles over the years so perhaps there is a reason for him taking the creatures on that way. Maybe it subdues them better, for later transportation? Who knows? If fifteen minutes of "torment" leads to them not being destroyed and actually being moved to a safer, wildlife park where their safety is guaranteed, then what is he actually doing wrong?

I think people also forget that a lot of the money Steve Irwin made over the years went into both his zoo in Australia but also into huge tracts of land in Australia, the United States, Fijji and other locations around the world. He was an ardent believer in the human ability to make a difference and put his money where his mouth was, in terms of saving areas of the world that would never be developed and could always host animals that otherwise might be hunted.

I think its a big loss for both the animals, the environment and those of us who changed our opinions of certain animals and their right to survive because of the alternative view that he provided.

Disagree :wink:

I would much rather listen to someone talking in a calm and unexcitable way than someone jumping around and screeching all the time.

Different folks....etc.. :lol:

From the BBC today:

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It seems Steve is the new Diana.