The great croc hunt in the sky
 

Just heard Steve Irwin was killed by a sting ray. Probably only a matter of time in his line of work but I still feel sorry for his kids.

This is a huge loss to the animal kingdom. He really loved and cared for animals.

It was a matter of time, but he did it for a while and but himself in danger for a long time, that people probably began to feel that it would never happen.

R.I.P. Steve Irwin.

I can't believe it I am genuinely quite upset. He was a great man, how many animals has he helped in his life time? I Just hope Terry carries on her work with animals and His two kids follow in his footsteps like he followed his father.
He will be dearly missed by Millions.

yeh... real shame... he was cool...

BBC Story | BBC Obituary
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I first saw him (on tv) when I went to america and he was on one night, I remember sitting there watching him and just being enthralled that someone could make dealing with snakes and crocs so fun, whilst also delivering an underlying message that if you know what you're doing then its (almost) safe.

I think someone on the BBC's comments page pretty much summed it up for me:

Thanks for touching the world in the way you did Steve, you will be missed terribly.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...9/s1732439.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0...win/index.html

:(

He had an insatiable enthusiasm for wildlife. He will be sorely missed. My heart goes out to his wife and children.

:( Oddly enough, stingrays will rarely ever attack, even if provoked. They would usually run away before attacking. "Investigation is still in progress..."

Yeah I think they said it's like only the third documented death from a stingray. Apparently he was stung straight in the heart. Nasty :-(

I read that there are a total of 17 deaths to stingray attacks. I think that may be worldwide? And they all occur only when they sting the chest or heart because their venom causes a cardiac arrest. If you're stung in the extremities, you usually don't die.

The report also said that he inadvertently cornered the stingray which is why it attacked.

The cameraman was filming when it happened. According to various sources, Steve was swimming next to the ray, and the cameraman was filming from behind. This probably scared the ray, making it think it was being cornered or something, which made it turn defensive by pure instinct. It was also the season where tiger sharks come out to hunt rays, so the ray was probably already scared to begin with.

The guy was delusional, he actually thought he had some special power with animals. Every show he did stupid and risky stunts to antagonize peaceful animals. He was basically stuck at the 9 year old developemental level of little boys who tease animals and then call themselves brave.

This guy should be nominated for the Darwin award of the year.

well its no real surprise i guess it had to happen sooner or later.
the biggest surprise for me, was that is was not a croc.

He was a cool guy - his untimely death is tragic.

also: badmouthing the dead is very low-class thing to do.

Superstitious?

If you believe in things that you don't understand,
you will suffer - superstition ain't the way.

-SRV

He was more of an entertainer than anything else.
 

I never met him but from what I have seen, he didn't really have a geniune respect for animals. If he did, he would have known not to try and swim over a stingray making the animal feel trapped.

Another incident is when he put himself and his small infant son in front of a croc. I thought that this was just plain stupid! His answer to the question about what he would have done if he accidently fell down was just plain arrogant and unacceptable!

He was doing it for entertainment and he made a lot of money doing just that.

thx
RLC

roncross@cox.net and Gnarlodious, you two need to show more respect for the dead. He was a great man who wanted to preserve mother nature. The "incident" where he placed his child in front of the Croc was merely to show people that animals are a lot less dangerous then we make them out to be. Also, it's not like he purposefully cornered the Sting Ray, it was accidental, and we all know accidents happen. Personally, I completely disagree with both of you on every view you have about him.

What does it mean to respect someone dead or alive?
 

I am confused about your statement about having more respect for the dead. What is respect and why should I have more respect for someone when they are dead vs when they are alive?

Am I missing something here, his incident didn't convince me one way or the other that crocs are less dangerous. I know that crocs are dangerous whether or not he puts himself and a small child in front of them. I am curious, do you believe that crocs are less dangerous because of this incident?

thx
RLC

more respect for the killer than the killed...
 

Sorry alexeldiablo, but I have more respect for the killer than the killed.

How about respect for the family mourning his untimely loss.

if so, you are a jackass

I agree.

So out of respect I'm closing the thread before it sinks any further and I give in to the temptation to suspend some of the posters. If there are any questions people are free to take them up with me directly.