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
Any chance this was a suicide?
Agree.
He got what he asked for. Which is fine, but his little kids didn't ask for it.
RIP mate! Our family loved watching your shows and learned so much!
"He got what he asked for. Which is fine, but his little kids didn't ask for it."
Can I give you some advice?... reading comprehention for the win! The guy was killed in a freak accident and was not messing with any dangerous animals at the time.
Rest in peace, Steve.
I have been diving since 1994 with many trips to the Carribean and you are right.You would have to really work at getting stung by a ray. I mean we would sneak up to them when they were laying in the sand grab thier tail behind the barb and get a free ride.
"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.
I have been diving since 1994 with many trips to the Carribean and you are right.You would have to really work at getting stung by a ray. I mean we would sneak up to them when they were laying in the sand grab thier tail behind the barb and get a free ride."
He wasn't diving, he was apparently snorkleing in extremely shallow water.. glided right over a stingray he didn't even see and the thing felt boxed in and struck.
Likewise. I have played with them at Stingray City also. They act like little puppy dogs that just want food and attention. Even so I was always wary of their tail.
Great photo.
That's right.
I was an amateur herpetologist when I was a kid. One thing I remember hearing is, "Never pick up a snake by the tail" -- too easy for them to turn and bite you. Pin them, and grasp them right behind the head. That way there's nothing they can do but lash around harmlessly, as you've taken their one weapon.
Ol' Steve-o really turned that little axiom on its head.
Just watched a segment with the director and producer of his shows who was on location with him when this happened. Apparently he wasn't taking one of those wild chances as has been lobbied about when this happened. He was filming about the Great Barrier Reef's 'deadliest' and they ran into inclement weather and could not film for that, so instead Irwin went underwater to take some footage for a show aimed at children which his daughter Bindi was involved with. He was below to get footage of things like coral and reef fish--totally harmless and was not interacting with them. Supposedly he came up on this stingray while swimming and it put it's barb into him(sounds as though it was in sand and he was swimming not far above). The ultimate irony of this is he was not even taking his usual chances when he met with what is a freak death at the hands of a normally placid animal. After all the situations he's been in and he truly is taken out in an accidental situation. Just damn.
RIP Steve Irwin. You were favored in this house too.
Takes the wind out of you.....he had a great passion for life ...
Thanks for catching that. I missed it as I scrolled down the page. The croc looks like he is having a great time. He looks more like a teddy bear than a croc.
"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."
"I have been diving since 1994 with many trips to the Carribean and you are right.You would have to really work at getting stung by a ray. I mean we would sneak up to them when they were laying in the sand grab thier tail behind the barb and get a free ride."
Read post 47.
Someone here said Tiger sharks hunt stingrays this time of the year. That would probably explain the attack. Steve probably looked like a shark above it and defended itself. By the way,when you are snorkling you are at the mercy of whats out there.
Have they contacted his wife yet? She was on some sort of expedition.
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