Crikey no more
Steve Irwin, 1962-2006The world has lost a great warrior for nature and its creatures.
posted by Desiderius1979 @ 9:56 AM
In the Spirit of St.Thomas
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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Steve Irwin, 1962-2006
9 Comments:
The best always seem to go young ... :(
yup...quite a pitch for laying low and staying safe.
Who would have thought it'd be a relatively dosile stingray to do him in?
I would have to disagree with the both of you here. I found him not to be a wildlife advocate at all. The picture you posted here says it all. He's holding a dangerous agressive animal. In this he's telling his audience that he can dominate verocious creatures and he'll give you a good laugh while doing it. He's thought nothing of the immense stress the animal is in!
One of the hardest notions for people to overcome is that other species are not here for our amusement. They are not here to give us decorative fur, increase fertility (e.g. albino tiger testicles), etc. Irwin perpetuated this notion with his series and while he gave us tidbits of information, for the most part people will remember him for wrestling crocodiles and catching anacondas.
I'm sorry he lost his life. The greatest lesson he's given people is that an animal will defend itself as agressively as he played with them.
A good point but based on superficial evidence. Yes, if you only look at his TV series, that's a logical conclusion, but what TV doesn't expose as much (because it doesn't sell) is all the conservation and environmental programs and work Steve initiated. He was able to start these things because he became a TV persona, and he knew that. It's what he had to do to grab the attention of arm-chair conservationists.
... and he had to have a hands-on approach with all animals because how else could he get people to warm up to them or in Steve's own words, 'get these animals into their hearts'? He used physical contact and humour to connect people with the wild but I don't beleive that he advocated recklessness and he always explained the risks of handling these animals and that only trained professionals should do so. People were educated and entertained by this great man. I think we humans are the custodians of the planet and to do a good job, we have to respect and understand the nature of all things here and not fear what's around us. That's what the Croc Hunter showed us how to do!
Sad thing is, there are reports of late that people in Australia have been going out and killing stingrays in revenge for Steve's death ... such a shame!
Even trained stunt people who set themselves on fire warn their audience that "they shouldn't do this at home". Irwin just replaced a ring of fire with crocodiles. It's not education.
As for as the superficial evidence is concerned, it is what he produced and it has had the greatest influence so it's not a weak part of my argument.
I would also disagree that humans are the custodians of the planet. This implies that we require control/dominance over everything. Time and time again, the flora and fauna of our planet have demonstrated that we are not (e.g. Irwin's death). What we need is a healthy dose of respect...something that Irwin was weak in messaging through his actions.
It would be refreshing to watch a conservationist interact with wildlife that showed us that we don't have scare the crap out of them, to learn something.
Well the best way for a conservationist to interact with wildlife is to not even be noticed. Those documentaries hardly ever get aired, and with no audience, how's a message to get through, as good as it may be?
Re: humans as custodians remark...it's smells a bit like Creationism to me, so I'll detach myself from it. I don't think humans should be custodians in the sense that we are a superior species. However, given all the damage we've do, we can't simply be indifferent. Are we not responsible for attempting to undo some of the bad stuff we've caused? In that sense, we are not true custodians of nature, but we ought to be custodians of our own actions as far as they relate to nature and wildlife.
Re: Steve...whatever your opinion on his method of loving and protecting nature, he was a likeable guy, and it's sad that he's gone.
"... However, given all the damage we've do, we can't simply be indifferent. Are we not responsible for attempting to undo some of the bad stuff we've caused? In that sense, we are not true custodians of nature, but we ought to be custodians of our own actions as far as they relate to nature and wildlife." - more accurately put, I agree fully!
This is weird, but only a month after Steve's death, another man was stung by a stingray in the heart. The senior is in hospital recovering from surgery. Apperantly a stingray just jumped into his boat, and stung him in the chest?!?! Unlike Steve though, this guy didn't pull the barb out of his heart (the surgeons did that).
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