Steve Irwin is dead

I sympathise with his family, but it’s a bit much to call this “an exceptionally unlucky accident”. The man made a living antagonising dangerous animals.

The NYT’s front page describes gim as: “Steve Irwin, a hugely popular Australian television personality known for his catchword, “crikey,””

For a few minutes the Wikipedia entry for stingray read “THE BASTARDS KILLED STEVE IRWIN!!!!” and nothing else. The entry is now relatively normal apart from mention that one killed Steve Irwin in the main text and talk of a conspiracy to do so in the preamble.

With the caveat noted above that we don’t know the precise details, given that: a) he was filming a documentary at the time; and b) his documentaries generally involve him manhandling animals, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the stingray was unable to swim away. Besides, it’s not a question of deserving it. It’s just not in the least bit surprising. I would imagine his family have been dreading this moment for some time.

Crikey.

For any losers who think Steve “had it coming”, remember that he did more to protect wildlife and bring their plight to the public eye than you could ever dream of doing in several of your pathetic unproductive life spans. When it came to undoing the harm done to nature he was a fucking rock star.

Steve Irwin, animal rights rock star and Grade AAA human being.

I’ll always love him for conjoining two sentences that I suppose had never been conjoined before: “This little guy is completely harmless. (meaning a snake he’d knocked into his boat a bit before.) His Razor sharp teeth are sinking right to my bone.”

I did wildlife conservation/rescue/education for seven years, so Irwin has always held a place in my heart. As he’s gotten more famous, he’s gotten more irritating, and I can only take his show in tiny doses (unlike Jeff Corwin, who I watch whenever I have a chance), but still. He did such an amazing amount of work in conservation, something that I think people who only see the television personality don’t realize. And it goes beyond the Australia Zoo, too, which is a wonderful organization. He raised countless amounts of money, and more importantly, awareness about animals and our planet.

One of the best things Irwin did was show that scary animals have their place, and shouldn’t just be killed because they’re snakes, or spiders, or whatever. He did this for the poisonous and non, getting up close and showing people the importance rare, endangered, and just terrifying, animals have in our ecosystem.

And while Irwin did do things the average person sure as hell shouldn’t do, he was also trained in it. Yeah, he did dangerous and stupid things – most people who do wildlife rescue and conservation do. But no one ever deserves to die, especially in such a useless, senseless manner – swimming over a stingray, and being pierced in the heart. It is a complete, sheer, freak accident, and a very sad one.

His presence in conservation will be greatly, greatly missed.

I stepped on one of those things once. It was the middle of the night. It hurt so bad I thought half my foot had been chopped off. I had to walk a mile, squirting blood like crazy (looking back as I walked, by moonlight I could see the line of footprints on the sand, the left ones pale, the right ones black with blood) before I got to a pier where the fishermen offered me a bucket of hot water and a ride to the hospital.

Damn, man, ouch, imagine getting stabbed in the chest by one. Rest in peace, crocodile man.

It’s a preventive measure, like: don’t even think about it.

Weird, Steve Irwin dies in a freak accident, and it leads to me agreeing… with Jet.

Kumbayah, lord, kumbayah.

There seems to be a need to believe that Steve Irwin’s death was either some sort of retribution for carelessness or that he was an obnoxious guy not worthy of our grief.

The inability to accept that his death may have been a tragic accident to a decent human being is called ‘cognitive dissonance’.

Rumsfeldian: There are those who say that Steve Irwin was a prancing todger, and that he, and indeed the entire island/continent of Australia, deserved to be killed and eaten by rats. I say they’re wrong.

On to the merits, per kelly:

He did this for the poisonous and non, getting up close and showing people the importance rare, endangered, and just terrifying, animals have in our ecosystem.

My problem with the Crocodile Man phenomenon is exemplified here. I don’t get how ‘getting up close’ and ‘showing people the importance’ are in any way related. Especially when ‘getting up close’ really means ‘messing with by grabbing and/or wrestling’. South Park dedicated an episode to a semi-fictionalized Irwin running around sticking his thumb up various animals’ buttholes for a reason.

I can certainly understand honoring his legacy as a conservationist despite his predilection for feeding crocodiles with his baby in his arms, but because of is just too much.

This is not to say in any way that Steve ought not be remembered well or that his family doesn’t deserve their grief or our sympathy, but he could have just as well or even better served the conservationist cause without being an adrenaline-addicted nutjob that dedicated significant airtime to trying to grab crocodiles’ tails to see if it would piss them off.

Sidereal, I’m not sure it’s true that “he could have just as well or even better served the conservationist cause” without acting like a nutjob. Certainly he would have had a much smaller audience if he hadn’t acted outrageously.

Yes, kitsch sells, no question about it. My daughter is very upset and I am too.

Is #23 a reponse to #22?

He seemed a really nice guy to me — and sounds it even more in the quoted interview at the end of the linked piece. I fel for his family. Crass as it may seem to say it, I hope he was well-insured. (I don’t feel completely crass saying it, having recently experienced a very close call, and found comfort in what I believed to be my last moment that I had just doubled my life insurance).

Engels,
I believe Dr. Quiggin deleted an a-hole comment implying just that. I imagine most of the comments about “had it coming” were in response to that troll. I should have known better to respond, but when someone stomps on an unambiguously good human being who pulled far more than his own weight in making the world a better place, I can’t help but shout the f’er down.

In not the outlet I would have predicted, Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal offers a sendoff:

Croc Wrestler, R.I.P.

Among adults, Mr. Irwin sometimes invited mockery with his antics. But by getting up close and personal with some of Earth’s most unpopular animals, he was an environmentalist in the best possible sense. In his special way, Mr. Irwin opened eyes to what was amazing and miraculous, if never entirely lovable, about all of God’s creatures. Even the poisonous ones.

let’s not debate the proposition that the deceased “had it coming

Too late – Germaine Greer in today’s Guardian was full of it. Irwin never understood animals and destroyed their habitats, wrote the aged London-based literary columnist – he was also in cahoots with John Howard and OMG TEH BUSH!!!ONE!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,1865124,00.html

Sounds like someone was a bit jealous about being demoted as Media’s Favourite Demented Aussie…

Irwin’s show was great television, informative and fun, for a certain level. He was easy to parody (and knew it). I shall love him for a commercial he did for the ESPN network, giving the audience a spiel about the alligator he was going to accost in an interior setting, and when he spotted it, it was the Florida Gator (a masot, a guy in a suit)…
He will be missed.
And I agree with chris y. As a country guy, and former dairy farmer, most people are increasingly distant from the sources of their food, and indeed, physical existence. Ignorance of nature allows it’s abuse.

BTW anyone who confirms my cherished stereotypes of Australians to the extent that Irwin did deserves some kind of medal.

There was a piece in the Grauniad undoubtedly compiled on a pub crawl across Earls Court where the young beer-retailing professionals were asked what Irwin meant to them. Most noted that while he wasn’t exactly the kind of Aussie that they considered a role-model (even at the Walkabout) he did epitomise something about their national culture that wasn’t simply exaggerated for foreigners who’d swallowed too much Crocodile Dundee.

The SMH also had a good piece on how Irwin’s fame was established abroad, embraced late at home, and dipped after the ‘Baby Bob’ episode: Queensland larrikins are all well and good, but not necessarily ambassadors for the entire nation. Still, he’ll be missed far beyond Australia. But it reminded me of Robert Hughes’s series, where he talks about the ongoing issue of Australian self-identity.

My heart goes out to Steven Irwin’s family. How sad and tragic to lose someone that has not only fulfilled his life dreams but a lifetime of love of wildlife, conservation and understanding and respect. He was doing what he loved and what identified him as a wonderful human being on this planet. I loved watching Steve and Terry – Steves enthusiasm and passion was easy to transfer across the TV to children and adults alike to get them focused on how important it is to understand conservation and also respect wildlife. He continually made it known to children and adults that NO ONE should try doing what he does. He was a consumate professional with integrity and values. I hold his family and he in the highest of regard and respect. My heart hurts for them, their loss and their grief must be overwhelming. Anyone who has anything bad to say you should keep it to yourself. My grandmother said if you dont have anything nice to say THEN DONT SAY ANYTHING AT ALL. Steve was in your face and making a place in this world for the animals that we all feared yet didnt understand. I loved that about him. He never waivered on who he was and what he was about – THAT is what a true man and human being who CARES does. He loved his family and his family and the rest of the world loved him – I know that I will miss him and so will everyday. This was his job, and his life – anyone who has a job like this knows that when they are out in the wild everyday with animals who act instinctually understands that is PART of the job and it could be their demise. I believe in my heart that Steve and his family knew this and accepted this because of all of their love for him and his great love back.
We will miss you Steve.
Love to Terry, Bindi Sue, Baby Bob and Dad Bob Irwin
Jewel

I am saddened by the loss of Steve Irwin, I throughly enjoyed his documentarys and his humor, not to mention he was incredibly strong, fast and athletic, the world has lost a great man. Rest in Peace Steveo.