Monstrous
The Animal Within => Monstrous Animals => Topic started by: Lord Pisces luffy on September 04, 2006, 05:14:17 AM
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CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called “Ocean’s Deadliest” when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous bard on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
“He came on top of the stingray and the stingray’s barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart,” said Stainton, who was on board Irwin’s boat at the time.
Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.
Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword “Crikey!” in his television program “Crocodile Hunter.” First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.
He rode his image into a feature film, 2002’s “The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course” and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.
“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet,” Stainton told reporters in Cairns. “He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, ’Crocs Rule!”’
'A huge loss to Australia'
Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was “shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin’s sudden, untimely and freakish death.”
“It’s a huge loss to Australia,” Howard told reporters. “He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people.”
Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots.
His ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.
Irwin’s public image was dented, however, in 2004 when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations.
Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him.
Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.
Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.
“It was extraordinarily bad luck. It’s not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare,” Collin said.
News of Irwin’s death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.
At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.
“Steve, from all God’s creatures, thank you. Rest in peace,” was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.
“We’re all very shocked. I don’t know what the zoo will do without him. He’s done so much for us, the environment and it’s a big loss,” said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate.
Stainton said Irwin’s American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.
The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin’s Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the “Crocodile Huntress,” she costarred on her husband’s television show and in his 2002 movie.
article found here:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/
the lost of a legend right here.........
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Australia Zoo
Media statement – 4 September 2006
Steve Irwin
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughter’s new TV series.
Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steve’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon.
His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today,
"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!"
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great, now i have food poisoning AND im sad
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Quite surprised - he had that air of invulnerability about him. The news here just reported that the Australian news servers all crashed as people flooded them trying to find out if it was really true.
Very sad. :cry:
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But somehow we all knew that an animal would be his end.
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Info re stingray attacks:
http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/47/stingrays.html
The pic below shows a venomous stingray barb by a human hand, and also the wound caused to a turtle, to give you an idea of the circumstances under which he was killed.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/storm_dancer/raybarb1.jpg)
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Indeed but the odd thing is that it hit his heart rather then anything else which he would have had alot better chance of survival.
I wonder if they caught it on film.
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I kind of figured his job would do him in one day. People who live lives such as his rarely die of old age. However, I'm not at all surprised it wasn't any kind of reptile -- Irwin knew his reptiles like the back of his hand. It's a shame and a great loss for the animal kingdom (though I'm sure many Australian reptiles will be sleeping better...)
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wow, i'm with the others in the concept that it would have been something more lethal and poisonous...a stingray?
he was fun to watch...it is rather sad.
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Luffy - Yes, it was recorded on film. The cameraman was just a few feet away.
jordyn - "something more lethal and poisonous"? :-o The ray is the most deadly of venomous fish, can grow up to 2m across, weighing 2 tons, with a barb over a foot long. Thousands of people are seriously injured every year in the USA alone.
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I never watched his show much, but I had seen a minute or two here and there so I know who he was.
I'm sad for the loss his wife and children are going through. The kids are so young.
It's strange sometimes how people are killed.
My childhood boyfriend's older brother took his 13 year old son deer hunting on family land (this was about 10 years ago). The 46 year old man was dressed in hunters orange from head to toe. He went into a large thicket to 'flush' out a deer so his son could learn to hunt. They always practiced gun safety and followed laws to the letter.
However, a trespasser, a young man who didn't ask permission to be on that land, heard Bill thrashing around in the thicket and assumed it was a large deer. He had a gun and blindly shot into the direction where the noise was; the bullet hit Bill in the head and killed him instantly.
I always wondered what the odds were of something like that happening? One small man in a large thicket, getting hit by a bullet shot at random; the shooter never even saw what he hit.
To me this is kind of like the crocodile hunter. It just 'must have been his time to go.' ??
~Morticia
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Great, now we all have to watch Jeff Corwin. Not only is he boring, he doesnt have the funny accent. :|
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Animal Planet will rename the garden space in front of Discovery's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, to the "Steve Irwin Memorial Sensory Garden." They are also looking at the creation of the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund, which they will call "The Crikey Fund" which will "allow people from across the globe to make contributions in Steve's honor to support wildlife protection, education and conservation."
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It's a great pity, his advocation for animals helped teach so many others. He raised awareness for the animals who were so close to extinction and played a major role in their survival.
Oh the irony that because of his love for animals he'd be stung in the heart.
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This was very sad news.. A guy so full of life, and young, it's a shame to see him go in such a manner after wrestling with crocks all those years. Hope his family will carry on the legacy he began in fighting for the environment and animal rights.. A good guy, and he'll be missed as he always brought a smile and some interesting animal facts..
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Luffy - Yes, it was recorded on film. The cameraman was just a few feet away.
jordyn - "something more lethal and poisonous"? :-o The ray is the most deadly of venomous fish, can grow up to 2m across, weighing 2 tons, with a barb over a foot long. Thousands of people are seriously injured every year in the USA alone.
but rarely die from it... :P
"Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin."
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12 people in the world have ever died from a sting ray attack. 2 were Australian.
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Awww, I miss him. I use to watch all of his shows. :cry: He taught me how to love animals in the first place.
Great, now we all have to watch Jeff Corwin. Not only is he boring, he doesnt have the funny accent. :|
You can say thatbut I never heard of Jeff Corwin in my life, if I haven't it's not worth knowing.
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Personally I wish they'd bring back all of the animal shows on the Discovery Channel. I constantly watched them when I was a kid. I eventually got Animal Planet a couple years ago and was very upset to find that they mostly just talked about pets. I may not have watched the croc hunter very much, but his death makes me even more fearful for the education of children about wild animals and the environment. I know that in my old elementry school district we used to have to learn all about the tropical rainforests in South America in 3rd grade, but they may even be cutting that out. At least they've added a new unit about wolves in 5th grade...
Oh, and Jeff Corwin is rather painful to watch. At least he's pretty enthusiastic about snakes?
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Oh, and Jeff Corwin is rather painful to watch. At least he's pretty enthusiastic about snakes?
*shakes head* Thust for the lack of what to say about Corwin, I remain silent. :banplea: