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Steve Irwin dead at age 44. Killed by a.....

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Buggy Loop said:
...

You know him? i hope?

Im with himuro with these things, i mean, yea it sucks he died, really cool guy and all, but feel sadness or even cry for someone thats not related to you? Shit, i didnt even cry when one of my friend (mostly just a guy i knew and he was hanging with some of my other friends) died in car accident back in high school.

Oh good for you, you're such a big man. You don't cry. Blow it out your ass.

Steve was a damn good person, and did so much for the world unlike the rest of these waste of life celebrities. He tried to make a difference. It is sad, but doing what he did, it was only a matter of time.... :(.

I'll miss watching his shows.
 
I have mixed feelings about the guy. On one hand, he did a great deal of good for conservation efforts, raising money and awareness. But on the other hand, from what I've seen of his show it didn't promote respect for wildlife at all, compared to something like March of the Penguins, or the PBS nature shows I watched as a kid. It was more like reality tv, except many of the participants didn't have the choice of whether or not to take part in the on-screen hijinx.

To me, what's sadder than his death is that it takes ethically questionable showmanship to make humans in general care about the fates of wild animals.
 
irwinoim7.jpg
 

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
His kids are taken care of... money wise they will be fine... and for the person who said you hope his kids take up his footsteps.. I pray that they don't... continue to work for the wildlife.. but stay away from the showman side of it.. Steve was great, but I can only see another death or serious life changing injury trying to follow in the footsteps of a man who was born to do what he did
 
What? :(

RIP

His kid is still pretty young too. That must really, really suck. I feel sorry for his family, and I hope that his son follows his dad's footsteps and kills every sting ray in the rivers.
 

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
PhoenixDark said:
What? :(

RIP

His kid is still pretty young too. That must really, really suck. I feel sorry for his family, and I hope that his son follows his dad's footsteps and kills every sting ray in the rivers.

yeah! and baby seals too! because they are stuck up!

Really.. that makes no sense.. Steve Irwin would have failed at his message in life if his son did anything of the sort
 

h1nch

Member
Wow that sucks, he was a really cool guy. I actually liked watching his shows when I caught them on Discovery, and also enjoyed his appearances on Leno and other talk shows

RIP
 
Blackace said:
yeah! and baby seals too! because they are stuck up!

Really.. that makes no sense.. Steve Irwin would have failed at his message in life if his son did anything of the sort
...

Joke detection broked.

I wonder how the media are going to handle this. They were ready to crucify him after he played with his baby around that crocidile.
 

zon

Member
Not entirely unexpected as he did interact with alot of deadly animals, but still, a tragic loss.

Rest in Peace.
 

ckohler

Member
Diablos said:
I wonder if they taped him getting attacked...
Apparently they did. According to one report, the camera man was in the water with him when it happened and didn't realize at first he had been stabbed until he saw blood. :(
 

Saoh

Member
Diablos said:
I wonder if they taped him getting attacked...

yes

Wiki said:
The events were caught on camera and the footage is now in the possession of Queensland Police.[22] He had been filming a segment for his daughter Bindi's upcoming television series.

but of course they will never show it. omg, this is quite shocking imo :/ my borther just pass me a link. terrible :(
 

Miguel

Member
^^^ YOUTUBE EXCLUSIVE


I don't understand the people who say "He got what he deserved"

I don't remember him killing any crocs or anything, sure, he probably angered a few at times for his show, but he did plenty in his time.

What an amazing way to go though. Sting ray barb through the heart. That's insane.
 

MrSardonic

The nerdiest nerd of all the nerds in nerdland
chaostrophy said:
from what I've seen of his show it didn't promote respect for wildlife at all

are you ****ing joking? the entire theme around his shows was about wonder and interaction with wildlife, early on it was especially geared towards crocs and reptiles to try and show people there was no need to fear these creatures...and he always promoted the need to conserve and respect all animals.

chaostrophy said:
compared to something like March of the Penguins

:lol March of the Penguins? That was not about respecting wildlife, the entire film was sentimentalization and anthropomorphism - it was explicitly made to be that way. Surely by your logic this is the worst possible approach to wildlife because it forces us to care about them only because they are portrayed as humanoid in almost every respect. Steve Irwin showed animals and the foodchain they were part of for what they were, not some Disneyfied version.

chaostrophy said:
To me, what's sadder than his death is that it takes ethically questionable showmanship to make humans in general care about the fates of wild animals.

what exactly was "ethically questionable" about his programs? his temporary encounters with animals did more for public interest, education, and respect than decades of scientists trapping, darting, tagging, capturing etc them. it's ridiculous to suggest it is "unethical" to interact with and handle animals in order to help people understand and value them...his enthusiasm for wildlife is exactly what helped communicate their importance.
 
chaostrophy said:
It was more like reality tv, except many of the participants didn't have the choice of whether or not to take part in the on-screen hijinx.

I think you have his show confused with something like WildBoyz like below. Did you watch it? It wasn't a jackass version of "let's go **** with the animals" as a lot of some of the earlier posters made it out to be. I gained a lot of respect for animals and such from his show and learned quite a bit.

Wildboyz.jpg
 

Diablos

Member
It's not like we knew the guy, so I'm not exactly mourning him. I think what's really sad to me is that he was a super popular environmentalist. People of his kind seem to get a smaller voice all the time. It's important for environmentalists to have a voice in a world increasingly dominanted by people who aren't, and want to make it count. It's all about influence. Name other environmentalists who are currently as popular... you probably couldn't come up with one besides Al Gore.
 
Though I didn't know the man...nor did I really watch his program(I don't watch television), I feel like I miss him. It's very tragic.

If he didn't have a family or children, I wouldn't be so saddened over this...it's just so cruel that this type of thing happens. Celebrity or not.

For those of you with families of your own, it really gets you.
 

MrSardonic

The nerdiest nerd of all the nerds in nerdland
On BBC News 24 they were talking about how docile Stingrays are and how this must have been an exceptionally freak accident.

Irwin also spent most of his time running numerous conservation projects and promoting conservation at Australia Zoo, and most of his money in these projects and buying vast tracts of land in Australia to be protected.

David Bellamy also said the world had lost one of its greatest and most knowledgable natural-historians, and Australia's most important conservationist.
 

pj

Banned
jeff corwin is on cnn right now and he just said he got stung by a sting ray once too

We need to stop sting ray on conservationist violence
 

ckohler

Member
Cauliflower of Love said:
As soon as I saw this somewhere else, I had to come and see how hyperbolized gaf was gonna get. :lol @ photoshops.
Check out the talkbacks at FARK.com. They're the worst. :/
Even the YTMND's are more respectful.
 
ckohler said:
Check out the talkbacks at FARK.com. They're the worst. :/
Even the YTMND's are more respectful.

Anonymity and peer bragging among dicks trying to "score points" will always bring it out. People love to say the worst thing possible when there is no one they actually have to confront with their views face to face. But if anything happens remotely negative to these same people they are often the first ones looking for any sympathy.
 

bumpkin

Member
Prince said:
lookoutstevewm8.jpg


saw this one posted somewhere.
Close, but not quite... That's a Manta Ray.

Definitely the sucks that he died though. The guy may not have been the brightest man on the planet -- I mean he had to know he was teasing death or injury a lot -- but he's still a man with a family and kids he loves. Rest in peace, Steve.
 

Ripclawe

Banned
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20355460-5001021,00.html
STEVE Irwin's wife and two children rushed from the Tasmanian wilderness to their Queensland home last night after the Australian legend died in a freak stingray attack.


Irwin, the superstar Crocodile Hunter and passionate conservationist, was killed when a stingray barb pierced his heart as he filmed footage for a new documentary on shallow reefs in north Queensland.

Footage of his fatal goring has been handed over to Queensland police.

"The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it," said boat owner Peter West.

"Something happened with this animal that made it rear and he was at the wrong position at the wrong time and if it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality."

Irwin's family was hiking more than 4000km away near Cradle Mountain.

Wife Terri, daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, 2, flew out of Devonport to the Sunshine Coast on a chartered flight shortly after 5pm.

Bindi clutched a blanket and stayed close to her mother, while her younger brother Bob skipped ahead as the family walked across the tarmac to their aircraft.

Friend and film producer John Stainton said Irwin had been swimming over the top of a giant bull ray in just 2m of water when it lashed out, driving a barb into his heart.

"It's likely he died instantly . . . I don't think he felt any pain," Stainton said.

The star's film crew hauled Irwin on to his boat, Croc One, and made a futile attempt to revive him just after 11am yesterday.

Paramedics from Queensland Helicopter Rescue tried to revive him but he is believed to have died from a heart attack caused by severe blood loss.

"It became clear fairly soon he had non-survivable injuries," said Dr Ed O'Loughlin, who was aboard the rescue helicopter.

Legendary marine documentary maker Ben Cropp said last night he had spoken directly to one of Irwin's crew after the tragedy: "He was swimming alongside a bull ray, a big black ray and the cameraman would have been in front, filming him.

"It went into a defensive mode, stopped, turned around and lashed out with its tail – which has a considerable spike on it. Steve was in its path and took a fatal wound."

It is believed Mrs Irwin went straight to the family home at Minyama, a Sunshine Coast suburb. She will travel today to Cairns to make arrangements for her husband.
 
MrSardonic said:
are you ****ing joking? the entire theme around his shows was about wonder and interaction with wildlife, early on it was especially geared towards crocs and reptiles to try and show people there was no need to fear these creatures...and he always promoted the need to conserve and respect all animals.

Imagine a stranger coming up to you on the street and acting towards you the same way the Crocodile Hunter acted towards the animals on his show. Would you consider that to be a respectful gesture?

Or better yet, imagine getting robbed at gunpoint, then after it's over having the robber give you your money back and tell you the robbery was all part of making a new tv show. The aggressive animal behavior that brought in the ratings was the result of animals believing their lives were in danger. Causing mortal fear in unwitting creatures for entertainment purposes is hardly respectful towards them.


MrSardonic said:
:lol March of the Penguins? That was not about respecting wildlife, the entire film was sentimentalization and anthropomorphism - it was explicitly made to be that way. Surely by your logic this is the worst possible approach to wildlife because it forces us to care about them only because they are portrayed as humanoid in almost every respect. Steve Irwin showed animals and the foodchain they were part of for what they were, not some Disneyfied version.

Uhh...March of the Penguins showed penguins being preyed on, establishing their place in the food chain. I've never seen Crocodile Hunter show actual predation, although maybe it did, I haven't seen every episode. As for the sentimentalization and anthropomorphism, you're right that the narration did veer too far in that direction at times. But my point was that the core of the movie is the penguins' natural lives, not interaction with wild animals forced by humans.


MrSardonic said:
what exactly was "ethically questionable" about his programs? his temporary encounters with animals did more for public interest, education, and respect than decades of scientists trapping, darting, tagging, capturing etc them. it's ridiculous to suggest it is "unethical" to interact with and handle animals in order to help people understand and value them...his enthusiasm for wildlife is exactly what helped communicate their importance.

The goal of most scientific study of animals is not to make the public interested in animals- it's to preserve biodiversity. And without detailed scientific analysis of animal behavior, biology, and ecology, conservation efforts would be doomed to fail no matter how much support from the public they had. OF course, the flip side of the issue is that without public interest, there would be no funding for conservation efforts, and that's where Steve comes in, to seek attention for the cause of all animals by freaking out a few of them. How good of a thing is this? That's an extension of the age-old question that zoos have faced about how to find the best balance between attracting the public to further their conservation mission through ticket revenue, and providing the best possible lives for animals that shun humans by instinct. It's not a question that's going away anytime soon.
 
The death of Steve Irwin has bummed me out an unexpected amount. He's always seemed like a cool enough guy, and has used television as a tool to share his love of animals and the conservation necessary to keep them around. I probably wouldn't have thought of this comparison yesterday, but in a way he reminds me of a Fred Rogers, though in a very different field. Now can you imagine if the death of Mr. Rogers was due to getting hit by Trolley on its daily route to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe?

White Man said:
So you say the Crocodile Hunter offered just as much to society as firefighters and police officers?
As a major media figure he's drawn much attention to animals and conservationism. I don't think it's unfair to say he's done as much good in his way as any random police officer or firefighter.

Himuro said:
You've got to be shitting me. The guy wrestled crocodiles and pissed off snakes. Did you honestly think he would die an old age?
He picked up those habits and skills from his parents, who themselves didn't get killed in such a way.
 

Cheebs

Member
I LOVED watching this show. His death is a sad one. :( And I agree with the views this guy has done A LOT of great things, I can't believe people are downplaying what he has done over the years.
 
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