crocodile man

[g.forrest]

love him or hate him, today he was killed by a stingray whilst diving in north queensland making his last documentary. speared through the chest and heart.

 

love him or hate him, today he was killed by a stingray whilst diving in north queensland making his last documentary. speared through the chest and heart.

RIP STEVE IRWIN.

[Guzzirider]

Sad news when anyone dies but I guess it was going to happen one day.

 

I remember him setting his pet dog onto a wild pig, and his dog getting savaged by the viscious pig and thinking that surely he should have known his dog was going to get a mauling.

 

Guy

[Frenchbob]

He was certainly a self-publicist and fame-seeker, and dandling his infant in front of a crocodile wasn't his finest hour, but you couldn't doubt his bravery and he did publicise environmental issues as well as himself.

[Guest ratchethack]

It's a sad day indeed.

 

KEY DATES IN STEVE IRWIN'S LIFE

 

Some key dates in the life of Steve Irwin, the television presenter known around the world as "The Crocodile Hunter."

 

• Feb. 22, 1962: Born near Melbourne. A few years later, his father, a wildlife enthusiast, moved the family to Queensland state and started a small reptile park.

 

• Feb. 22, 1968: Received a 12-foot-long scrub python for his 6th birthday.

 

• 1980s: Volunteered for Queensland's crocodile relocation program.

 

• 1991: Took over the reptile park when his parents retired.

 

• 1991: Met Terri Raines, a tourist from Eugene, Oregon, whom he married six months later. Footage from their honeymoon became the first episode of "The Crocodile Hunter."

 

• 1992: "The Crocodile Hunter" picked up by the Discovery Network and shown world-wide.

 

• 2001: Made a cameo appearance in the Eddie Murphy film "Dr. Dolittle 2."

 

• 2002: Released his first feature film, "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," an Australian production set in the Outback.

 

• Oct. 2003: Prime Minister John Howard invited Mr. Irwin to lunch with President Bush at the prime minister's official residence at Canberra.

 

• Jan. 2004: Provoked an international outcry after being filmed holding his one-month-old son while feeding a crocodile. Local authorities and children's rights groups said the incident is tantamount to child abuse. He said he was in "absolute and complete control."

 

• June 2004: Investigated for a possible criminal breach of wildlife laws after allegedly clowning around with whales and penguins while filming a documentary in Antarctica. He was cleared of wrongdoing.

 

• Sept. 4, 2006: Fatally stung in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a television segment on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

 

--Source: Associated Press

[dhansen]

• Sept. 4, 2006: Fatally stung in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a television segment on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

 

I've heard of people getting barbed in the leg, hand and arm but never run through like a stuck pig. Must have been one huge ray to do that.

[DeBenGuzzi]

The biggest case of bad luck I've ever seen. I always figured he would go down by some snake he let get too close or decided to handle or maybe slip and fall into the croc tank during feeding, maybe get done in by some jellies but if someone said stingray to me b4 this I would have scoffed at them. Its amazing really they have stingrays in the petting tank at the Mall of America aquarium.

[dhansen]

Interesting background on stingray wounds.

 

http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/47/stingrays.html

[Guest Nogbad]

No idea if this is true but on the BBC radio this morning they had a couple of experts who suggested Irwin had probably provoked the creature in some way. No idea how true this is, but on his past history, seems plausible to me.

[Guest ratchethack]

I gotta agree. In one of his segments, he was holding some kinda lizard, raving about how beautiful he was, saying, "Isn't he GOOOOOAAJIS?", whereupon the lizard chomped ol' Steevo right square on the beak.

[soloNH]

Bummer

 

The guy was kind of quirky but did so much good educating people. Lot's of passion indeed.

 

Apparently he was swimming above the ray when it struck, I'm sure it was a defensive move on the ray's part. Shit luck for sure.

 

They say being stuck by a ray in the leg is excruciating, can't imagine how it would feel in the heart.

 

By the way, when they allow humans to pet rays they remove the barb before hand.

[Guest Eric123]

The funny thing is (maybe not that funny) but stingrays--or matna rays--actually like human contact. They have been know to swim at humnas like they are going to charge and attack, only to swim away as if some game. I think it was a freak accident, I feel bad for his wife.

[dlaing]

I feel bad for his wife.

...and two children.

Atleast The Grizzly Man did not leave a wife and kids behind.

Be careful out there all you risk takin' mammas and pappas!

[g.forrest]

No idea if this is true but on the BBC radio this morning they had a couple of experts who suggested Irwin had probably provoked the creature in some way. No idea how true this is, but on his past history, seems plausible to me.

aparently police have viewed the tape of incident and have stated that he had not interfered with the ray and was swimming one metre above it at the time. statistics say. 4 deaths in this country and fifteen world wide. [irony] he was filming a doc to be called ocean deadlys.

[Guest PAULSMART]

Yeah I really liked Steve Irwin - he should have stayed on land where he was better experienced.