We're sadder but all wiser

By DAVID BELLAMY
Wildlife Expert
September 05, 2006

WILDLIFE expert David Bellamy last night told of his grief at the loss of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin — but said: “He was never going to die quietly in his bed.”

The British botanist called Aussie icon Irwin — killed by a stingray while snorkelling yesterday — a “fantastic all-action character”.

He said: “I had a good cry when I heard the terrible news. Why did it happen to such an important and talented guy? It is the world’s loss and has sadly come years too early.”

THE untimely death of Steve Irwin has shocked the world.

A family man, showman without equal, a conservationist who understood the real meaning of the word and a natural historian who understood the wild animals he worked with.

So much so that he could make the most hair-raising of close encounters, safe in his knowledge and understanding of their behaviour.

His childlike energy, backed up by training in the martial arts, put him in the Ninja Turtle category when it came to saving the situation. As if to prove it, Steve discovered a new species of snapping turtle that science named, in Latin, Elseya irwini in his honour.

Born in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, on February 22, 1962, his family moved to Queensland where they set up a reptile and fauna park in which Steve grew up, tutored by his father, Bob.

He was handling crocs and snakes as a child and went on to become an accomplished member of the Queensland government’s East Coast Crocodile Management Programme.

In 1991 he renamed the park The Australian Zoo and took over from his dad.

From this point on his career in the media took off along with that of his American born wife Terri whose honeymoon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter.

His legacy of enthralling, entertaining and educating the people, and especially families, about the wonder and importance of respecting all living things is enormous.

The Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation (renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide) led to his purchase of tracts of land in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Unites States to champion the protection of native wild life.

Today the world is a sadder place — but, thanks to his enthusiasm and talent, it is much wiser too.

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[Edited 9/5/06 11:45am]

luv4u said:

It's actually very strange to me that a person like Steve Irwin could stir up so much hatred in some people...sure, he was over the top, but I hardly think that's worthy of the mean spirited and disrespectful comments some have posted. I see people here posting more hatred than they did when Saddam Hussein was captured or when Bush was elected to a second term.

applekisses said:

It really is bizarre! WTF?!

applekisses said:

I know!

That's the first thing almost everyone said to me in unison when I stolled in for breakfast at work, "Crocodile Hunter's dead! "


He was such a likable nutter His zeal and unique extroverted descriptive explanations used to reminded me of another conservationist hero of my childhood days, David Bellamy His stunts were mad but that was his own combinatinal brand of entertainment and education. Rest easy, Steve

My love and prayers to his family.

The last visual image I have of him is when he and his family were doing a tour of the National Parks in the States. Makes me sad to think of his children.

Well he was doing what he loved and he didn't suffer.

Family's final words for IrwinBy Luke McIlveen and Neil Hickey
September 06, 2006 12:00am
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WITH the family at opposite ends of Australia, Terri Irwin was desperate for Bindi and Bob to send a Father's Day message to dad Steve.

Trekking in the Tasmanian wilderness and out of range for a telephone call, Terri finally got this text message through: "The children send their love."

The text was sent to Steve on Father's Day - the day before he was fatally stabbed by a stingray.

The family was feeling the pain of separation and, after several tries, Terri got through to her husband's mobile phone.

Tragically, he missed the call.

"We missed a phone call on the boat from Terri and the children on the Sunday because the communication was really patchy," Irwin's close friend and film producer John Stainton said yesterday.

"I had an SMS on my phone for him from her saying the children send their love and that was all."

Irwin's body was flown from Cairns to the Sunshine Coast yesterday, where Terri grieved at the family home with their daughter Bindi, 8, and son Bob, 2.

Stainton said Irwin - a fighter to the end - pulled the 20cm stingray barb from his own chest moments before he died from a suspected heart attack brought on by blood loss.

Irwin's horrific last moments were caught on video, which Stainton described as "shocking" and "traumatic".

The footage of Mr Irwin's death may never be shown to the public, said Discovery Networks, which owns the cable TV channel that screens Irwin's documentaries.

"It's still too early - we'll have to take a look at it," said Discovery president Billy Campbell.

Mr Stainton said he and Irwin agreed that the ocean was a greater threat than the rivers where he made his name trapping crocodiles.

"If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be the ocean," he said. "On land he was agile, quick-thinking, quick-moving and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over."

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said Irwin would be accorded a state funeral, but the final decision will be left to his wife Terri.

The Irwin family had spent August in far north Queensland trapping crocodiles. Terri and the children had travelled to Tasmania on a separate wildlife project, while Steve stayed to film a documentary based around daughter Bindi.

Before they parted, Irwin was researching the migrating habits of crocodiles in far north Queensland - the sort of project that had earned the Crocodile Hunter his world-famous nickname.

Irwin tagged a world record 49 crocs in 32 days.

"Bindi and Bob were up here for the whole five weeks ... and Bob would go out with Steve," Stainton said.

"At night when they went home they'd watch Bob and he had a toy crocodile. He'd jump on the croc and call for Bindi to get on the back and he'd take the head and then he'd call for Terri to get the top jaw.

"At almost three he's taking it all in. He could very well follow his dad."

Irwin and his crew then flew to Port Douglas to film for a series, Ocean's Deadliest, that was to premiere on US television next year.

Stainton recalled that Irwin then made a confession. "Steve said to me on the boat ... 'John, I've had the best month of my life'," he said.

minneapolisgenius said:

I will pray for you Justin ....

luv4u said:

... very sad, but I hope his family take comfort from this and from the fact that his death was very quick and he died doing something he loved.

Sorry I'm a bit late but I've been away a few days. I've read through most of the thread and the stupidity of some of the negative comments posted is just mind-blowing. I have only ever watched bits and pieces of his "croc hunter" documentaries (I'm more of a David Attenborough man) and was initially rather sceptical of his whole "crikey! look at that fella!", gee whiz, boots and all style. But after seeing a few interviews with the guy I realised that he was completely genuine in his love of animals and that, underneath the goofy exterior, was quite a smart guy who knew how to grab the attention of that part of the population not normally willing to sit through a "nature film".

He knew he had to entertain, to play the clown, if he was to get his message across to the masses. A TV show about crocodiles and snakes - Ok, some people will watch that but, a TV show about a guy jumping on crocodiles and chasing snakes - a whole fuckload of people will watch that and while they're watching maybe learn a thing or two. Some fool here said something to the effect that "David Attenborough wouldn't yank the tail of a crocodile to get a reaction" well that's true but David Attenborough is largely preaching to the converted, Irwin was trying to reach those who didn't watch Attenborough ( he said this himself) and to do so he had to offer something different...he had to ham it up a bit. If pissing off a few reptiles and annoying the occasional spider is the price to be paid teaching millions of otherwise ignorant people something of the beauty of nature then, I say, go for it.

Others have implied that he was all about self promotion and money and didn't really give a fuck about nature or the environment at all. You should know that almost all of the money made from his wildlife documentaries and from merchandising ( inlcuding plastic dolls ) went into wildlife awareness ( through further documentaries and his wildlife park ) or into his charitable foundation which I believe is called Wildlife Warriors or something similar. Large amounts of money, either through Wildlife Warriors or through Steve;s persoanl finances also went into buying land all around the world to protect habitat.

Some have even said that Steve got what he deserved, that his death goes to show that you should leave nature alone. Well, my little mentally challenged fucking Einsteins, we don't leave nature alone, we are systematically destroying it day by day. that is precisely why Steve did what he did. How much Amazonian rainforest got cleared today? How many species became extinct this week? Who knows? Who cares? Oh, but boy do we get pissed off when some guy in shorts fondles an igunana! Thats just fucking outrageous! Why don't you ride your fucking high horses out of your fucking ivory towers and visit reality every now and then, you half-baked ignorant arseholes, you might learn something.

I heard today that a six year old girl, upon hearing of Steve's death, asked her mother "Who's going to feed the crocodiles now?". Thats how children saw him, as a friend to the animals, one they admired. Do you think that young girl would be interested in the welfare of crocodiles if it weren't for Steve Irwin? No, she'd see them as evil man-eating monsters like my generation did when we were growing up. There are millions of children just like her all over the world. Call me crazy but, to me, thats a good thing.

In the end he did alot more good than harm, which is more than can be said for most of us.

RIP Steve

FIML said:

http://lists.envirolink.o...15971.html

New York Post TV Week Sunday, January 11, 2004
"Prime Time" column by Phil Mushnick

Steve Irwin: No Friend to Animals

Just because Animal Planet ostensibly represents the best interests of animals and animal-lovers doesn't protect the network from the modern, commercial TV formula: Its biggest star is also its most loathsome act.

Forgive us a bit of we-told-you-so, but in June we listed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin among those who should take a hike, identifying him as a fellow whose growing stardom is predicated upon annoying dangerous animals.

Recently, Irwin drew gasps of outrage when, while holding his infant son in one arm, he used the other to prod a large and angry croc to sit up and beg.

While Irwin explained that he was merely providing his one-month-old with a lesson in nature, previous observers of Irwin's TV act could identify this episode as his latest bit of showboating.

That Irwin is a charismatic, camera-charming character who, in his Down-Under accent, refers to boa constrictors and Gila Monsters as "sweethearts," does not make him a naturalist. That he travels the bush in short pants and a Land Rover does not qualify him as a disciple of Margaret Mead. He's less a friend of animals that he is a daredevil, a stunt man who exploits innocent beasts.

Irwin may know plenty about the animals he pokes with sticks, but his considerable fame lies in the fact that he provokes and antagonizes animals. After jumping clear of a 600-pound crocodile, who was previously minding its own business, he turns to the camera and exclaims, "Blimey! She's a beauty, isn't she?"

Not to be confused with an environmental educator, Irwin often teaches little more than the obvious and previously known: Crocodiles have powerful jaws, lots of sharp teeth and they don't enjoy being annoyed by guys who poke them with long sticks.

It's a shame, really, that Irwin has become Animal Planet's headliner. The network has some terrific programming.

"The Jeff Corwin Experience" is similar to the "Crocodile Hunter" in that Jeff Corwin is an amiable adventurer. But Corwin behaves like the real-deal naturalist that he is. Unlike Irwin, his entertainment value is found in his eagerness to fascinate and educate rather than make a Windsor knot with a python.

One moment we'll find Corwin digging in desert sand to reveal a lizard that thrives despite no apparent food source. The next moment he'll take us on a tour of a rain forest in Costa Rica, stopping to point out and even gently handle some of the indigenous wildlife rather than goading it into taking a bite out of him. Corwin earns the spotlight by not deliberately aiming it on himself.

Two other Animal Planet shows, "Animal Cops" and "Animal Precinct," track urban law enforcement agents (New York City's included) as they investigate animal-cruelty cases. The results are often heartbreaking as dogs, cats, birds and even horses are found to have been abused beyond all minimal standards of civility.

In the tradition of "Cops," we follow both the perps as they're collared and the pets as they're either rescued or destroyed. Pit Bulls are regularly exposed as mean-streets status symbols, raised to reflect the twisted values of their owners. Those owners generally pay a fine. The dogs, once deemed irretrievable as pets, pay with their lives.

Steve Irwin, "Crocodile Hunter" and the star of Animal Planet, comes closer to an animal user and abuser -- a fellow who on "Animal Cops" might be slapped with a fine for reckless endangerment of a child and disturbing the peace of animals.

Letters to the editor: letters@nypost.com

Justin1972UK said:

Justin STOP please. have some respect

Justin1972UK said:

Looks like the New York Post will employ anyone these days. Thanks for posting this article, it is a textbook example of the kind of moronic, one-sided bullshit that a handful of quasi-intellectual wankers are writing about Irwin at the moment. Again, it COMPLETELY and probably deliberately misses the point ( see my previous post). This guy, like alot of others, doesn't like Irwin because of his uncouth TV persona. It offends his upwardly mobile middle-class sensibilities. But, instead of just admitting that, we get this failed attempt at rationalization - deliberately ignoring all the good Irwin has done and deriding him for daring to try and appeal to the great unwashed masses. Its a cheap shot and a transparent piece of self-inflating snobbery from a second rate ( I'm feeling generous today ) hack.....no offense.
[Edited 9/7/06 2:44am]

SDNafka said:

Perhaps we should all write complaints to that Email address

katt said:

Professor David Bellamy is a botanist, rather than a "Wildlife Expert".

Not only this, but he's the patron of The National Gamekeepers Association and a member of the pro-bloodsports Countryside Alliance, in the U.K.

http://www.nationalgameke...uk/news/9/

In recent years he has called for badgers to be trapped and hedgehogs to be indiscriminately poisoned to reduce their numbers (and allegedly halt the spread of the BSE virus which wouldn't exist if cattle weren't so intensively farmed). He's also campaigned against the building of Wind Farms in the U.K. and would prefer to see more reliance on Nuclear Power.

All the above is well-documented on the internet.

David Bellamy is not animal-friendly in the slightest. He's an eccentric, tree-hugging, dangerous buffoon.

John Phillip could you edit this and take the red face out of the title. I hate red.

luv4all7 said:

It was a moderator who put it there as a warning, not John

just letting you know is all

Natisse said:

Thank You!

Natisse said:

No, I think she means the red face emoticon.

or not
[Edited 9/7/06 4:28am]

Justin1972UK said:

Justin STOP please!!!! again... have some respect!

Natisse said:

His last post has nothing to do with anything here anyway, so it's easy to ignore. If he has a problem with David Bellamy, he should start a thread about him.

The point it, why is all this backlash coming out NOW after the man has died? Of course, there were always people who didn't like him, but if all these activists hated him so much and hated what he did on his show, then why wasn't there constant pressure on him and the TV stations to shut him down? He's been on the air for years! If he were really doing something horribly wrong, someone would have put a stop to it long ago. The reason is, is that people can get away with nasty comments now that the man is dead. A bunch of cowards, that's all.

Just because an animal is poked with a stick to get them to come out of their habitat for a brief moment is not cruelty IMO. I'm the biggest animal lover around, and I'm pretty damn sure that no matter what the species and how intelligent they are, I'm sure they're not holding grudges. I'm sure that moment didn't make their lives worse or even endanger them. A minor annoyance sure, and one that was probably immediately forgotten. Hell, what about people who dress up their cats and dogs in X-mas outfits and for Halloween? That's just as annoying to those animals I'm sure, and while I've never done that, I'm pretty sure they're not scarred for life because of it.

minneapolisgenius said:

I DID!!! Yeeah, Joh Phillip dod that rite?
Well, whoever, please remove it.
I mean, is it REALLY necessary?

minneapolisgenius said:

Quite honestly I'm disgusted and shocked by the amount of negativity towards him since his death I agree it's cowardice, but still....



I can't believe the amount of it though and not just on this site... on myspace, everywhere!! can't believe it!

Natisse said:

I am too. It's just really odd. Oh well, karma and all that. People will get theirs.

It just amazes me that he's being made out as some evil person, where there is so much worse going on around the world when it comes to animal cruelty. Take, for example, the people in Thailand who take gibbons out of the wild and chain them to bars and make them smoke, drink, and take drugs for the amusement of tourists. And that's just one offense out of many taking place around the world. These people should direct their hatred towards the REAL perpetrators of animal cruelty. If they really care so much, then they need to get off their asses and out from in front of their computers and do somthing about it. Not just bitch on MySpace and other websites. Please.

I'm not saying that I'm a devout animal rights activist, but then I'm also not hiding behind my computer and accusing others of doing wrong either.
[Edited 9/7/06 4:50am]

Spookymuffin said:

it's spooky again spreading the truth, it is just jokes peoples, relax.
the guy is not even being serious, its all tongue in cheek.

sheesh.

minneapolisgenius said:

completely agree

minneapolisgenius said:

Where?

There's some shady treatment of elephants and some of the crocodile farms have bad reputations, but I've never heard that before. Thailand has, as a percentage of its total land, a massive amount of national parks, and is very dedicated to animal and plantlife conservation.

Fauxie said:

Common practice in the bars at Phukett and Krabi.

you have to have a nightlife to know that baby.

Imago said:

that's so sad that's something I never knew about... and an extra reason not to rush out and visit Thailand I'm afraid