Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin killed while filming documentary

[maliciel]

am i the only person who's not sad about this? i mean, sure, anyone's death is to be mourned, but Steve Irwin? purveyor of negative, reactionary stereotypes about Australians?

So, because what he does on TV (which in my opinion, represents everyone wrongly), you don't think his death should be mourned? Sorry, but you're a dick.

In any case, I enjoyed what he did on TV, his antics were crazy, but always funny. Most of all, I mourn the death of an educator. Many people, through his shows, learned more about animals than they would've doing anything else, so I respect him for what he's done.

At least he died in style.

[zanyrulez]

I like his documentries... =(

[tivx]

man that's too bad. my condolences to his family. too bad his daughter isn't going to remember much about him she's like 2 right? but man he was awesome and brave.

R.I.P. Crocodile Hunter

[~Dan~]

I always expected him to have a few serious accidents but I always thought he'd survive.  I bet he'd been bitten by a few snakes in his time, but they'd have the anti-venom on standby.  At least he died doing what he loved, not that it's much consolation.  A brave guy.

very few of us aussies are thicko bushies who live in the outback, rousing crocs for a living - none of us, i'd be willing to bet. and yet he made a career out of feeding this sterotype.

That's not that impression he gave to me at all.

[Cookie]

I was shocked when I heard this on the news earlier today. It's sad that he died so young and that he left his family behind.

Rest in peace, Steve Irwin.

[twissie]

Seriosuly, such a crappy way to start my day

I was just the other day telling my boyfriend how much I loved watching Steve Irwin's shows because it's easy to see how much he loves his job. Enthusiasm and joy makes me happy, plus the shows become more fun to watch. Few other wildlife-show people show such enthusiasm for their work as Steve did.

I feel really sorry for his wife and kids, I also expect that his coworkers must have a pretty hard time now. What a loss ._.

[reyfer]

am i the only person who's not sad about this? i mean, sure, anyone's death is to be mourned, but Steve Irwin? purveyor of negative, reactionary stereotypes about Australians?

very few of us aussies are thicko bushies who live in the outback, rousing crocs for a living - none of us, i'd be willing to bet. and yet he made a career out of feeding this sterotype. more power to him as an individual for being able to make shedloads of money doing so - but i won't miss him.

Oh. God, and I thought that his shows were about him dealing with animals, it turns out they were about setting an image for male aussies..  So, tell me, do you see every african-american, or mexican, or italian as portrayed by some TV shows? Because when I saw Irwin's shows I saw a weird guy having fun his own way teaching us about animals, I never saw him as the ideal model for australian males. I'm sure you're a fine person, and not at all like Irwin, but with comments like yours you're really making honor to your screen name

[devilayu]

Really terrible news to end the holiday weekend. Anyone who has ever lived with me knew how much I loved his shows (particularly "The Croc Hunter Diaries" which showed the bts stuff that happens at a zoo). He did a lot of good for conservation above anything else and IMO did alot for Australian tourism.

[Mayo]

Tragic, Yes. Shocking, No.  It's like hearing a hotrodder dying in a car crash, really.  At least he died doing what he loved.

QFT

Totally

[JFC]

I Didn't know that stingrays were that dangerous...

Well they aren't... I read that this was the second stingray death in Australia ever..

If they were NOT dangerous, he would NOT be dead. Stingrays just aren't that aggressive.  That does NOT mean, however, that they WON'T attack at all.  As was previously said here, their tail is used for defence, and they've developed a barb on that tail as part of that defence.  In the animal world it's kill or be killed (or more precisely, kill or be eaten). Whatever he was doing, he obviously scared that stingray enough that it's instinct told it to strike out with it's tail.

Any animal that can potentially cause your death, no matter how unlikely that may happen, is dangerous.  While Irwin often spoke about how you need to be careful around animals, he often ignored his own advice on his own show with the way he agitated poisonous snakes and other potentially dangerous animals (I won't even mention his baby incident, as that example of irresponsibility is a different ball of wax).  I totally respect the guy for his passion for his chosen profession, but WITH ALL DO RESPECT...something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. The odds just caught up with him.

[kuno_thunder]

Yeah man, I'm not gonna say that I'm not sorry that this happened or whatever, because a death of a man is naturally hard to deal with for most.  But really, the odds just did catch up with him, and following his own advice is something he didn't do very well.  Like, come on now.  "Don't be a dumbass like me and go up to the poisonous snake to try to pet it like a puppy."  That kinda thing would make me change the channel in front of my own kids and say to them "Don't do what that guy does, or you'll wind up dead."  Though I respect his wanting to make educational tv fun, I think he just played against fate for too long.

[ctz]

If they were NOT dangerous, he would NOT be dead. Stingrays just aren't that aggressive. That does NOT mean, however, that they WON'T attack at all. As was previously said here, their tail is used for defence, and they've developed a barb on that tail as part of that defence. In the animal world it's kill or be killed (or more precisely, kill or be eaten). Whatever he was doing, he obviously scared that stingray enough that it's instinct told it to strike out with it's tail.

True. But I didn't say that stingrays aren't dangerous at all. Like you said, every animal is. But I meant that stingrays aren't killers just seeking another poor diver to be stabbed and poisoned to death.

We might never know, but I think Irwin was probably trying to grab its tail or something more stupid.

[SniperZero]

Yea he used up his spare lives prety quick. Just a freekish unfortunate accident me thinks.

Kinda feel sorry for his son and daughter rather then anyone else. He will definately be one of a kind. No one will beable to replace him!

Matt

[~Dan~]

We might never know, but I think Irwin was probably trying to grab its tail or something more stupid.

The news is reporting that the cameraman caught it all.  Apparently Irwin pulled the barb out of his chest and then surfaced before quickly losing consciousness.

[chopstick]

i heard that his ass got got by a stingray in the chest or something and it stung him in the heart or something. well hes dead now

[ctz]

There's a more detailed explanation of his death in Wikipedia now. It seems that he wasn't doing anything stupid, just unlucky.

[Jsmurf]

also heard he got stung in the heart. Guess it was his time to go, R.I.P.

[Flow-]

To think that it was a stingray that got him .

Anyway, R.I.P. Steve.

[Momal]

From what I saw he was a great guy. When I had gone to the Australian Zoo I saw him perform a live show with the "crocs". Kinda sucks he died at this age though, If it was something like in 20 or so years then would have given his son and daughter to grow up some more with their father.

[F3nr1l]

Such a tragedy. I feel most for his daughter and son. Steve Irwin would definitely be a great father. I can just see it now, after his son playing Mercenaries(or something to that effect in 10 years): "Dad, can I go hijack a tank?" "Crikey! I have been waiting for you to ask that for years! Just make sure you tackle the guards onto their bellies and tape their jaws shut. They might roll around a bit so make sure you keep yourself firmly planted on their back!"
I'm terrible, I know..