A close up of a stingray's stinging barb.
Source: wikipedia
Posted on 09/04/2006 7:03:34 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
Crocodile hunter Irwin : Passionate showman in the wild by Marc Lavine 1 hour, 1 minute ago
SYDNEY - Iconic Aussie wildlife daredevil Steve Irwin has died as he loved living: seeking out the world's most dangerous and exotic creatures in their own domain.
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But, in a strange twist, it was one of the less dangerous creatures that he has confronted that ultimately claimed his life.
The ebullient environmentalist, one of Australia's best known exports, was killed when he was lashed in the chest by a stingray's poison barb while filming underwater on the Great Barrier Reef on Monday.
"We have probably lost one of the most passionate wildlife people on this earth," said Irwin's producer John Stainton, who was filming with Irwin when his heart was pierced by the stingray's venomous tail.
Irwin's overflowing passion for animals, reptiles, fish and other creatures -- however deadly they might have been -- was a lifelong affair that made him a household name across the world.
His infectious enthusiasm and natural showmanship grew out of a childhood spent at the small reptile park started by his parents in Queensland, northeastern Australia, where he learned his love for creepy crawlies.
Born Stephen Robert Irwin in the southern city of Melbourne in 1962, the future "Crocodile Hunter" was exposed to such creatures from the earliest age by his reptile-enthusiast plumber father Bob and mum Lyn.
When Irwin was eight, his family moved to Queensland to launch a reptile park at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast, where he helped care for and feed the slithering menagerie which he soon adopted.
He would spend his spare time catching fish and hunting rodents to feed to his 3.6-meter (12-foot) pet python and his crocodiles.
Irwin's father taught him the ropes, even training him to jump into rivers in the region to catch crocodiles at night with his bare hands, an antic that would become one of Irwin's signature moves when he became a global television star.
As an adult, Irwin launched into the crocodile trapping business in areas of Queensland where the beasts were troubling residents, and in 1991 he took over the family business which he would turn into a global attraction.
Fate took a hand in Irwin's fortunes in 1991, when he ran into an old friend and television producer, Stainton, who oversaw the making of Irwin's first documentary, "The Crocodile Hunter", in 1992.
The show depicted the crocodile-trapping honeymoon of Irwin and his new American bride Terri Raines, who he had met at the park, and it turned Irwin into a TV personality.
Over the next 15 years, Irwin would make more than 70 one-hour episodes of his unusual wildlife documentary series, as well as scores of other shows with titles such as "Croc Files" and "Croc Diaries".
The unusual mix of Irwin's boundless enthusiasm and apparent fearlessness while getting close up and personal with terrifying creatures turned him into a star, notably in the United States where he is the subject of countless impersonation acts.
But his passion for promoting environmentalism and educating children in the ways of the wild had got Irwin into trouble as well as making him legions of fans.
In 2004, the father-of-two became the focus of a public firestorm when he fed a chicken to a hungry crocodile while holding his one-year-old son Bob in his other arm.
Irwin hit back at critics, saying the child was in no danger and insisted that he would continue such antics if they taught children about wildlife. His eight-year-old daughter Bindi looks set to follow in her dad's footsteps.
"When I was a very small boy, my dad did the same for me," he retorted. "In fact when I was nine-years-old he let me jump, restrain and capture my first crocodile
Prayers up to Him and His Family
He will be greatly missed
God Bless all of them
I know what you mean, but I'd have liked to not see him go at all quite yet.
My kids are going to be really sad over this. They grew up watching him.
This is so very sad. I was a huge fan. But, as an avid and experienced diver, I do not see how this could happen if the person was acting in anything other than a completely reckless fashion.
God Bless
It's a darn shame; Irwin was my daughter's favorite, seconded only by the Kratt brothers.
RIP Steve Irvin.
rest in peace
LOL ... from this angle, it's hard to tell if that's a croc or an American gator...... either way, I'm sure the crocodilian, if he's smiling, is thinking about lunch, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind having Steve or Terri as the entree.
Ironic that after so many years of tempting fate with 20- and 30-footers, he got killed by one of the smaller creatures in his domain. Of course, that would have also been true if he'd been nailed by a blue-ring octopus or a funnel-web spider, or one of the numerous snakes he used to handle. At least he lived long enough to have a look and a laugh at Snakes on a Plane -- he'd have been annoyed to have missed that one.
I am so sorry to hear this. As celebrities go, he was at the top of my list. The world is a better place for his work. His family must be devastated. May God's peace be with them.
Yes: smaller and, if I'm reading right, he wasn't doing anything particularly inherently dangerous, nor interacting with this particular animal. Ironic, sad.
He was a real man, too. Pair like brass church bells. Those two kids carry some of the best DNA, and were exposed to one of the mostly manly outlooks on life, in the world.
They'll do fine -- Steve died too young of course, but he lived long enough to ensure that his kids will be the real deal as adults.
The odd thing is, I've been in the water with many stingrays and they are actually very gentle creatures.
There is a place off the Cayman Islands called Stingray City where there is a sand bar where they've been feeding them for years.. hundreds of them come there all the time for the free fish and you can get right in the water with them.
They only advise you to shuffle your feet to avoid stepping on them and you are otherwise perfectly safe.
This is a freak accident to be sure.
Many moons ago I and some friends were swimming in South Australia and as we left the water one of our group trod on a small sting ray which had burrowed into the sand in the shallows. This caused my friend to be bedridden for over a month.
I woke up this morning hoping it was all a bad dream. Steve will be missed.
He did live life to the fullest, it seemed.
May God bless his family and friends.
some not-exactly shocked sadness in our home today...
not sure if our 23 year old daughter knows yet, she's been watching steve since animal planet began airing his program, since she was a "kid"!...:(
peace to his family... but somehow i don't think steve is the "RIP" kinda guy... go get the big ones steve...;)
A close up of a stingray's stinging barb.
Source: wikipedia
A man who immortalized " Cricky." Prayers for the family may he have eternity.
Anyone who witnessed this Australian gentleman was smitten by his passion for wildlife. Steve Irwin did things we would not dream of and in so doing, he demonstrated that our fears were for the most part unfounded. Fearless because of his knowledge of his passions, he showed us all a new respect for God's creatures. He passed away doing what he loved, may we all be so fortunate.
God Bless you Steve Irwin and your family too.
How do they use their tail? Do they swing it around and pierce someone that way, or do they back into them?
So sad for the children who no longer have a father.
The irony is that these "dangerous animals" are in the petting pools of several sea parks.
Steve will be greatly missed in my family. My grandson would always have rather watched him than any of the stupid stuff that passes for children's programming.
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