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[linnea]

I just wish that such a fate befell every jackass who thinks it's funny to hurt animals. Sorry, Steve Irwin, but I can't get saddened over your death. Sorry about the children though.

[Drygioni]

I just wish that such a fate befell every jackass who thinks it's funny to hurt animals.

My curiosity is piqued! Can you provide an example of said abuse? I have to admit I've never heard of him doing bad things to animals before, at least not laughing at them.

[linnea]

My curiosity is piqued! Can you provide an example of said abuse? I have to admit I've never heard of him doing bad things to animals before, at least not laughing at them.

I remember getting really pissed (angry in the American sense of the word, not drunk as the limeys are wont to say) when I first saw Steve Irwin on television early on in his career. Grabbing animals and being macho just didn't seem like a good idea, and frankly I'm amazed that he made it this long. And feeding a croc with your 1-month old son in one arm just seems creepishly Jacko-esque. His Wikipedia article goes on and on about how dedicated he was to animals and conservation, but whatever.

[slink]

His Wikipedia article goes on and on about how dedicated he was to animals and conservation, but whatever.

His conservation efforts, by and large seemed to be saving an injured crocodile, and from what I saw, never involved taking the local population's feelings into consideration. He was far happier to tell people that it wasn't that dangerous, and then release it back to cripple a few more villagers. He always seemed somewhat selgiraffe.

[pmcd9]

I never could stand the guy.  I used to love nature shows when they showed nature more or less as it really exist.  Somewhere along the line it was decided that this wasn't exciting enough and danger must be added to the mix.  Now there is a whole new breed of so called nature shows that are basically jackass in the jungle and Steve Irwin was the most egregious and successful of these types of entertainers.  Fuck him, i'm glad he's dead.

~Paul

[AlohaDawg]

He founded and owned the Australia Zoo and did a ton of conservation work and brought people to greater awareness of the beauty and danger of lots of different animals.

Yes he was a cartoon of himself and sure he did some "out there" things but by and large I think Australia and the world lost a pretty strong voice for animals and animal education and conservation.

Odd to be killed by a stingray, though - only 17 deaths have been recorded worldwide attrbuted to stingrays,

I hope I die doing something I really love.

[pmcd9]

I'm not glad he's dead, but I couldn't stand how he ruined nature television.

~Paul

[side_show]

On the news tonight they said that he was the first Australian in 60 years to be killed by a stingray, that they aren't prone to attack unless provoked.  I can just imagine him grabbing on to the stingray and manhandling it in the overly aggressive fasion that he always does on T.V..  My SO thinks Steve must have stuck his thumb up that stingray's anus or something. 

Not that he deserved it or anything, but just... you know, he was a goofy weirdo, so it's hard not to think goofy weird thoughts about the guy.

[JorgeFabregas]

From the Australian Broadcasting Corp.


Irwin footage shocking, friend says

Steve Irwin's producer and close friend John Stainton has described his distress at viewing film of the iconic Crocodile Hunter's final moments before his death.

The acclaimed naturalist and television star was killed while filming a documentary in the waters off Port Douglas in far north Queensland yesterday.

The 44-year-old was swimming above a stingray when it lashed out, piercing his chest with the barb on its tail.

"It's shocking, it's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die," Mr Stainton said.

"Steve came over the top of the ray and then the tail came up and spiked him. He pulled it out and the next minute he's gone."

Irwin's family is on the Sunshine Coast in the south-east of the state and will not be travelling to far north Queensland.

Police say footage of Irwin's death shows he did not provoke the stingray that killed him.

Far North Superintendent Mike Keating says police have viewed footage of Irwin's death.

"There is no evidence that Mr Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray," he said.

"My advice is that he was observing the stingray."

Police say video footage of the moment Irwin was killed by the stingray is central to their investigation into his death.

"We'll be continuing to use that video in our investigation and we look forward to finalising the investigation very quickly," he said.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

[theinevitable]

yeah, this is kind of how I always imagined it would happen while swimming as a child.

after showing hordes of children that animals aren't really that dangerous, he is attacked by a stingray while minding his own business. capital.

[Hobot]

Police say video footage of the moment Irwin was killed by the stingray is central to their investigation into his death.

"We'll be continuing to use that video in our investigation and we look forward to finalising the investigation very quickly," he said.

The stingray has been detained for questioning.

[pmcd9]

I suspect that now stingray attack histeria will replace (or compliment) shark attack histeria.  Death to all stingrays!!!

~Paul

[theinevitable]

so, ok. several of you have commented on him essentially having it coming, due to his "hurting animals." What did I miss? I realize that being picked up by some huge guy with a bad accent is rather disturbing... but is this really that bad? However obnoxious he may have been, he was trying to teach kids/adults about animals. Worse things have been done in the name of science/education. I was originally going to link to some images, but they are all ugly, and I didn't want to be a dick about it. So imagine: a frog which is mid-dissection, some kind of animal which is having testing done on it, etc.

I was going to get the picture of the ape with the brain machine (ie: the one that displays the colors which represent his thoughts? or something?), but, it is gone.

[Bobby Isosceles]

I just wish that such a fate befell every jackass who thinks it's funny to hurt animals. Sorry, Steve Irwin, but I can't get saddened over your death. Sorry about the children though.

Please accept my giftwrapped economy size fuck you for that sentiment. Accusations of hurting animals are baseless and silly. Yes, he was a buffoon, yes, he was very hands-on, but he understood the limits of what he could and could not do with the animals. For example, with an animal the size of a crocodile, jumping on it is not going to hurt it, yet crocodiles will suffer heart failure if they are too stressed out. As a recurring theme, he always attempted to get whatever animals he was moving into a dark chamber ASAP so that the animal wouldn't die. Yes, the showboating and jumping fed into this, but it was also a matter of expedience.

I find it difficult to believe that anyone who would get this emotional over dead or dying animals could ever find it in himself to hurt one. While it's true that he spearheaded the move from dry, David-Attenborough style nature shows to more in-your-face "gonzo nature journalism", no one here said "I just wish that such a fate befell every jackass..." about Hunter S. Thompson.

Moreover, sometimes, just sometimes, someone is unpretentious enough that he or she can be seen for the truth: generally likeable, good person. Steve Irwin was one of those guys. I didn't know him, I didn't have anything to do with him, and honestly I didn't really think his show was all that interesting. But even a five minute clip of him talking would show that he was basically a well-meaning guy. It's the kind of thing that, were it polished, could be used for demagoguery to great success. Yet this guy was just a guy who was really interesting in saving animals no one else thought cute or cuddly enough to save. A kingdom was not what he wanted, just his own little zoo and spreading some awareness. Part of the reason why people mourn the death of what really is a D-List celebrity is not because of what he did -- have you seen "Collision Course"? -- but because of what he genuinely was: a likeable guy who did his best to make his world a better place.

Anyone who spites that or rationalizes an excuse to believe that is just some elitist, Death-Cab-For-Cutie loving hipster swine who thinks that just because the majority of people like and support something, it's obviously wrong. Well that's not true for some things: most people love air, most people -- except Rivers Cuomo, that slimy hipster dog -- love sex, and most people think that Steve Irwin was a good guy.  Don't go all Weezer on us.

[Drygioni]

I wasn't originally going to post a rebuttal to those who wished ill upon Steve Irwin, but Bobby has just done it a lot better than I could have (and probably with a bit more vitriol I wouldn't dare put in).

A gal at school was saying how much of a dick Irwin was for basically jumping on animals and stuff. When someone pointed out the unlikelihood of an average sized dude hurting a croc by merely diving on it, she got a little flustered and said that he could have hurt small animals by jumping on them. I don't think he has ever jumped on a small animal. I think he used enough force in order to not only make it interesting for the cameras, but also keep the animals safe. He definitely did not seem like one of those bastards who prioritise entertainment above an animal's health.

Like Bobby said, I think he would never intentionally be cruel to an animal, and I think he knew better than most of us what constitutes cruelty. Then again, it's a relative term. I still think he wouldn't hurt a fly.