STEVE IRWIN IS DEAD

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2391300
BRISBANE, Australia Sep 4, 2006 (AP)— Steve Irwin, the Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition, Australian media said. He was 44.

Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Irwin was diving near Low Isles near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane.

A helicopter carrying paramedics flew to the island, but he died from a stingray barb to the heart, ABC reported on its Web site.

Telephone calls to Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, were not immediately answered.

Irwin is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

Irwin had received some negative publicity in recent years. In January 2004, he stunned onlookers at his Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his 1-year-old son into a crocodile pen during a wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the 13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.

Authorities declined to charge Irwin for 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.
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Comments

  • edited September 2006
    I still refuse to believe it. I loved watching him on Animal Planet when I was younger...
  • edited September 2006
    To be honest, its probably the way he would've wanted to go. With the animals in their natural habitat.
  • edited September 2006
    http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Croc-Hunter-Irwin-killed-by-stingray/2006/09/04/1157222051588.html

    That seems to be a better article than the ABC one.

    Quite ironic. Couldn't film for his most dangerous sea animals thing so he goes diving with some that apparently aren't dangerous and ends up dead.
  • edited September 2006
    At least he died with all his fingers. I figured he'd surely have lost some by now. Crikey!
  • edited September 2006
    It is a great loss for humanity. I agree with Night Lord that he probably wanted to go like that. Best for him to go doing what he loved.
  • edited September 2006
    Serephel wrote:
    It is a great loss for humanity.

    And yet there are still those who think doctoring up a fake Pokémon screenshot of Steve Irwin with no HP against a Mantine is funny. Why is it that good people like Mr. Irwin die so young, but these jerks get to hang around and keep being jerks?
  • edited September 2006
    I'm gonna miss that guy's strange antics. :(
  • edited September 2006
    Well, that's gotta suck. The guy had a son who was apparently 1 year old in '04. That poor kid'll probably never remember his father. Sad news.
  • edited September 2006
    At least he went out doing what he loved.
  • edited September 2006
    mjc0691 wrote:
    And yet there are still those who think doctoring up a fake Pokémon screenshot of Steve Irwin with no HP against a Mantine is funny. Why is it that good people like Mr. Irwin die so young, but these jerks get to hang around and keep being jerks?
    I agree, I've been linked to a fake iPod advertisement featuring a Mantine's barb through a man's chest with the logo "iSting" in the corner. ><

    I'm an Australian citizen and must say that although I never particularly enjoyed Steve Irwin's shows or anything, it is still a great loss to our culture, as he was one of our icons.
  • edited September 2006
    Toadstool wrote:
    I agree, I've been linked to a fake iPod advertisement featuring a Mantine's barb through a man's chest with the logo "iSting" in the corner. ><

    >_< Bastards. Did they try to justify it with the "he was too close to the seals" crap like the people who made the Pokémon shot did? I don't see why anyone cares if he gets "too close" to the seals. News flash: He got "too close" to animals long before that. What's your beef now? (none of the news articles I've seen that mention the seal thing ever mention why it was so bad that he got so close)

    I can't see how anyone can use such a poor excuse to bash on such a great man. He will be missed by many, including his family. Not only his 1 year old son as Lore said, but his 8 year old daughter, too. Death isn't easy to deal with when you're an adult, I can't even imagine how hard it must be for an 8 year old.
  • edited September 2006
    ='(
  • edited September 2006
    I'm an Australian citizen and must say that although I never particularly enjoyed Steve Irwin's shows or anything, it is still a great loss to our culture, as he was one of our icons.
    -There goes Australian tourism. Just kiddin! :D

    But I think Steve coulda died in a cooler way...
    Only the good die young; us bitches live forever!
  • edited September 2006
    Well I guess he could have died in a cooler way. Remember, he did take this thing in the heart, probably a lot cooler than the way any of us are gonna die.
  • godgod
    edited September 2006
    I'm kind of surprised that he managed to last this long. I know he was good at what he did, but he's been working with animals just as lethal for more than half his life, which is a lot longer than almost anyone else could have managed.
  • edited September 2006
    god wrote:
    but he's been working with animals just as lethal for more than half his life
    Probably more lethal. Remember, Irwin's only the 18th documented death by stingray.
  • edited September 2006
    Yeah, unless those things catch you in a vital area, like say, the heart, they're not too dangerous. I believe their venom is more along the lines of a bee or hornet, painful as hell but not fatal.
  • edited September 2006
    You'd be surprised what is lethal when forcefully introduced to the heart.

    Edit: By the way, I commend you Professor Jake with your fitting icon.
  • edited September 2006
    I've seen a great number of articles that described his death as a "freak accident." Now, no disrespect to his family, but how the hell is his death a freak accident, when he has messed with dangerous animals on camera for many years now?
  • edited September 2006
    Because sting rays are usually harmless.
  • edited September 2006
    I think it's considored a freak accident because the likely hood of a manta-ray sting to the heart was almost slim to none.
  • edited September 2006
    Well considering manta rays don't actually have stingers, it would be zero. Sorry, I'm a biology major, those kinds of things just irritate me.
  • edited September 2006
    Many apolagies. I'm an 8th-grade retard. heh heh.
  • edited September 2006
    I fully understad how unlikely it is that he would be killed by a stingray...


    However, he was killed in a filming of a documentary about deadly fucking animals. This is not irony, and this is not freak occurance. He was killed doing something that was self-titled as dangerous. It would be similar to someone saying "in a freak accident, a fireman was killed in a blaze on blah blah Street."

    Its not like being killed by a stingray is common, by any means. I'm just saying that if someone dies while making a documentary about killer fucking animals, the words "freak accident" is only uttered by dumbasses.
  • edited September 2006
    He was killed filming footage for his daughter's show, because the weather was too bad to film the dangerous one.
  • edited September 2006
    Well, that would be ironic, then.

    EDIT: Daughter's show? Isn't the daughter far too young to have a show?
  • edited September 2006
    Maybe it was a freak accident because Steve Irwin is a capable animal handler who has dealt with much more dangerous animals in the past and emerged unscathed? I'm thinking it was because the sting was probably not intended by the ray to pierce his heart and kill him; the animal probably didn't have much malice in its actions. Also, animal-related deaths are usually referred to as accidents, because it's not like someone unleashed a stingray with the purpose of killing somebody.

    I can't think of much to say that hasn't been said, but I'm still saddened by Steve's untimely departure.
  • edited September 2006
    I'm quite saddened too, don't believe otherwise. It's still definitely an accident. The only thing in question here is the "freak" adjective.


    I do see the point about how unlikely it was that he'd be killed by something far less dangerous than the things he constantly messed with, also.

    EDIT: Grammar is a useless tool of the bourgeois, meant to suppress the non-teachers in all of us. Do not judge my post in the name of the establishment!
  • edited September 2006
    Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you weren't saddened. I just realized I hadn't given proper condolences and jumped right into semantics.
  • edited September 2006
    Are you kidding? My entire entrance into this conversation is due to semantics!