Steve Irwin. A Fair Dinkum, Modern Day, Peter Pan
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09. 5.06
When, as a kid, we first got telly at home, (Yeh, I know, it’s hard to imagine a western home that didn’t automatically have a TV), there was a show called Daniel Boone. I was entralled, Spent the week playing this coonskin hat wearing, Davey Crockett type character. Only to have my dreams dashed the next weekend when a crocodile wrestling Tarzan replaced the injun fighter. These figures of derring-do were all make-believe to me. But not so for Steve Irwin. He was just nine years old, when, at his father’s prompting, he was jumping into rivers and teaching real live crocodiles to ‘yield’. Steve lived out boyhood dreams of khaki clad adventurers, as if he’d stepped from the pages of a Boy’s Own Annual. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, led a larger-than-life existence, until he was 44. Tragically he died a couple of days ago. Doing what he loved most: getting up close and personal with the wild beasties, with which we share this planet. Whilst filming a documentary about the ocean’s deadly creatures, a stingray thrust the barb from its tail into Steve’s heart. He died, soon after reportedly pulling the barb free. Police who viewed the doco footage say he was not interfering with the animal. Steve Irwin’s dramatic passing has shocked a nation. But as one observer put it, his death shows just how genuine he was (Fair Dinkum, as we might say down here). He wasn’t some cardboard cut-out, hero type, who needed stunt doubles, he was in there doing it himself. He simply believed he had an affinity with animals, and was passionate about being amongst them, and encouraging everyone else to appreciate them.
Steve Irwin came across like he’d never grown up. He remained a big kid, brimming over with that youthful enthusiasm, that only children seem to exude. And that was his charm to many. But he did espouse the virtues of an adult in his advocacy for conservation. He had the ear of federal government, when they vetoed a proposal to allow big game crocodile hunting in the country’s north. (There is now talk of a state funeral, of maybe naming a national park in his honour.) With his wife, Terri, Steve set up the Wildlife Warriors foundation in 2002. And although now operated independently of the family, the charity’s administration costs are covered by the Australia Zoo, Steve’s commercial wildlife park in Queensland, so that 100% of donations can be used directly for their intended result: wildlife conservation. And in direct alignment with views often expressed here at TreeHugger, Wildlife Warriors has this to say on conscious consumerism: “When it comes to habitat conservation and wildlife protection, one of the most important elements – perhaps the most important element – is conscious consumerism. This means that conservation is not just about what we actively DO; it is also what we choose NOT to do or buy that makes a difference.”
Steve Irwin did make a difference. “My heart beats for wildlife and wilderness conservation - it's my mission in life.” Right up until the minute that same wildlife caused his heart to stop beating. It was Steve’s in-your-face passion for life, not just his own, that will be his enduring legacy.
Um, respectfully disagree.
I won't drudge into it, as I do wish to pay the man his respects as a firey character and an all around nice guy, but there's a counterpoint not only to Mr. Irwin's viewpoint about animals, but to all those who exploit them in order to entertain others. Consider it.
Actually, I'm a little surprised this viewpoint is not represented on this blog.
I'm new to this blog. I'm starting to get the feeling it's another installation of popcorn environmentalism.
I totally agree and I hope that his entire family will follow in his footsteps! If we all only had a tenth of his passion, imagine what difference we could have on the world!
Matt, your point is well taken. None of us are perfect, least of all Steve Irwin. Yes, I was looking at his life as a glass half full, not half empty. It's habit we have around here. Sure, he encountered his fair share of controversy, and personally I'd rather quietly observe animals in the wild, than disturb them. But, on balance, I'd suggest the greater good he performed in promoting the appreciation, and conservation, of wildlife, outweighs the more superficial role the entertainment played. (He did, for example, buy up large swathes of land, so wild ecosystems would remain undisturbed.)
I don't watch much TV and never saw this guy, but loved Warren's obit. I do wonder, what is popcorn environmentalism? Clearly the guy did some good among all the grandstanding. Should we not honour that? Do we have to be so doctrinaire?
Testimonial--Steve Irwin and his show were directly responsible for bringing conservationism to the forefront of my mind, and for my eventual conversion to active environmentalism. Consequently, I feel indebted to Steve's infectious exuberance for life, and can't help but be thankful for the things he did. Respectfully disagree all you want, but don't belittle his importance to the conservation movement. Us young 'uns (I'm 25) who grew up with his "Crikey"s ringing in our ears owe him a heartfelt thank-you for showing us that the proper role in any conservation effort is an energetic one.
I, for one, will miss the guy. He used entertainment for education and did a fair bit of good in the process. Pass the popcorn!
Steve Irwin is not responsible for bringing conservationism to my mind. Ranger Rick magazine is. I can't say enough good things about that magazine.
Popcorn environmentalism: I just coined it.
You've got your movies which are important, and your movies which are for eating popcorn. The serious ones are uncomprimising in their pursuit of a focused message. The popcorn ones, well, they just make you feel good while you're using them.
Steve Irwin was at the forefront of influencing envriomental policy in his native Australia and bringing it off the political in a nation which seems more intrested in taxation law than flora and fauna . He also helped personally fund research into animals and the preservation of envrioments not only in Australia but throughout Asia . Most notable is his work on saving threatened snake species .
Whilst you may disagree about his "exploitation of animals for entertainment" his work was not reserved to simply running a wildlife park and wild animal hospital and being on t.v.
I'm afraid I'm with Germaine on this one...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,1865124,00.html
Matt, if you think TH is so not "serious," why bother to see who's responded to your intentionally contentious comment?
Your clever coinage aside, Treehugger is THE eco-blog, period. What's more "serious" and better? Are we going to all be such pain-in-the-ass environmentalists that we are not willing to take any good we can get to save the planet, even from guys who are literally crazy about animals?
How pure do you want your environmentalism to be, Matt?
i have to agree with matt.
he played with animals, it was his life and it's not the life i would approve. ok, who am i to ask?
however, when you play with something deadly, eventually you get hurt. so it happened to him.
i live in bosnia, and would probably be considered as crazy guy, and would probably brought quite some attention if i was dancing every day in minefields, but i still don't do that.
i'm going to read-on now. goodbye
I am 67, healthy as a bear, loved Steve's energy, and was tearful the whole day after after his death. The world is definitely a lesser place without him.
Glenn
like matt9000 (no relation) i'm also a bit surprised by the tone of treehugger's take on Irwin. Its sad to see anyone killed in nature & i sympathise with his family, but lets not forget this is a guy who sold an ocker stereotype of idiotic animal wrestling to a bedazzled nation of american daytime tv viewers.
This guy got rich by selling the idea that interfering with wild animals for entertainment was a good idea. How is that eco-friendly ? As germaine greer points out, it was only his chumminess with PM John Howard (who is always on the lookout for a good photo op) that prevented him being prosecuted for rampaging around antarctic wildlife.
Treehugger, please, a little critical comment with your boosterism would do you much credit. That your tone is basically the same as much of the press in australia clambering on board the "hero has died" gravy train is kind of sickening.
I of course appreciate Matt's point about using animals for entertainment but I genuinely believe that Steve Irwin loved animals first and discovered a way to support conservation and animals by focusing on them second.
I do not believe he ever abused an animal in his life and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest otherwise. Quite to the contrary in fact.
As for popcorn environmentalism I found that interesting. Whatever makes the mainstream engage with the environment is fine with me. And let's face it, it seems to be working.
More popcorn over here please.
Namaste
Al
matt 9000,
Please tell us the successful conservation organizations you have started that have done similar or better work than Irwin's? Please post about the awareness campaigns you've started and a measure of their success.
Steve Irwin might have made a few errors, but until you or any other critic can match the good he's done on such a large scale, then you're just embarrassing yourself.
I find it interesting that the abject hatred for conservative politicians like Howard and Bush can seep into, and numb, even the mourning process for the loss of a fellow human. The point of Greer's article, it seems, is that it's OK to not feel anything for the passing of Irwin because he attended a dinner with George Bush. Yikes: it's sentiments and expressions like this that give the Left a bad name.
Amen, digraph.
exactly digraph.
If only a fraction of the people on this planet would have the enthusiasm and outlook this guy did we would be a hell of a lot better off than we are now. Stop trying to find "the perfect" example..there are none. What's important is that he cared, was compassionate and did his best for something that mattered. At the very least this generation of obese TV watching kids had a glimpse of animals and nature. So what if he made some cash doing it. It's clear a lot of that was invested back into conservation. A lot more than I'm sure most of us have ever dreamed of. If you are going to be cricital you should be instead wondering why the second biggest news story is pictures of Tom Cruise's kid??? It must just be the evil part of our human nature to immediately find ways to criticise and point out the bad. This is the new "news" world we live in. Is it so hard to just focus on the good he did? What the hell has happened to our priorities and our sense of goodness? Take a look in the mirror folks before you are so quick to judge. What have you done that can compare?
Why is it that the good guys die and the war mongers continue to thrive? No doubt the guy was a sometimes annoying goof ball but in my opinion the guy was, as Paulo Coehlo puts it, a true Warrior of the light.
Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.
I for one do NOT agree with matt9000 and I do NOT respect or appreciate his sentiment concerning Steve's methods.
The entire point of his hands-on approach to showing off animals on camera was the engage the viewer and to particularly attract a certain demographic: children. Up until Steve, most nature shows portrayed animals interacting naturally in their environment and were recorded by a camera far away. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, but when it comes to trying to attract children, which kind of show do you think would have a bigger impact on the mind of a child, one that I just described, or one staring a super-enthusiastic dude from Australia picking up every living thing he can possibly catch and bringing it right to the camera to talk about it. Everything he did in his entire life was try to encourage children to love all animals and understand the importance of conservation. Every single episode of every single show he ever created proved that. He was not an entertainer; he just happened to be a very entertaining guy and was the exact same on camera as he was off it.
The article cited in this comments section is repugnant, here is the last paragraph from said article: “The animal world has finally taken its revenge on Irwin, but probably not before a whole generation of kids in shorts seven sizes too small has learned to shout in the ears of animals with hearing 10 times more acute than theirs, determined to become millionaire animal-loving zoo-owners in their turn.”
Disgusting, I need not elaborate as to why. Greer wrote this article ONE DAY after his death… making fun of Steve, ridiculing his methods AND his death. How dare she ridicule his life and his accomplishments, what gall. She even questioned his efforts and accomplishments as a conservationist.
I think it is entirely appropriate for Treehugger to pay tribute to one of the most influential conservationists of our time and NOT critiquing his style as some other websites have done. Steve Irwin was a hero for the environment and whether some people found him annoying because he never quite grew up in some ways, is irrelevant and unimportant. He lived 10 lives in the span of barely 1 lifetime. I will always miss him, his loss is a tragic one.
But don’t take my word for it, listen to Steve explain his method in his own words: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DwxQyhIbhAk
digraph:
So, I guess since I've never been President of the United States I can offer no valid criticism of him?
I appreciate reading all points of views.
Germaine Greer and people like Matt9000 set back environmentalism thanks to their rudeness, ignorance, and lack of manners.
I think the point is that there are better forums for some points of view in this matter. The matter is taste/tact, not what's allowed. Criticizing the President right after he got stabbed through the heart would be in poor taste, and I don't think anyone can really claim that Dubbya is half the man Steve was.
There is no respect anymore?
god bless the man, may he rest in peace. my heart goes out to his family.
if anybody was a treehugger he was.
he didn't get killed doing anything dangerous. it was a freak accident. jack hannah characterized it this way, "It’s like me getting killed by a poodle.”
Well, here's a small point to consider: I stumbled upon this site BECAUSE I googled "Steve Irwin" and then I decided to post this site under 'favorites', so that's the result of Steve's power and not boring ol' donkeys like cyber dingo and the matts and like-minded of this site or god-forbid that bloodless, insensate, hagfish Greer!
Hey Beverlee, welcome to TreeHugger. Pleased that you found us. Though we do like to limit the name-calling and personal attacks. There's enough conflict in the world without it showing up here too. Yes, it may be a very long time indeed since Germaine had a pleasant comment to pass about anyone, but may we refrain from joining her in the put downs.
Everyone (Germain Greer chief among them) keeps talking about how Steve would jump in and wrestle with the crocodiles. I'm not sure if you've ever watched the show, but Steve only "wrestled" with crocodiles in the process of rescuing or relocating them. His methods were lauded by animal care professionals because he did not dope the crocodiles; which tends to kill them since they are cold blooded and cannot regulate their body temperature. Doping would stress out the crocodiles far worse than his handling.
"... I'm not sure if you've ever watched the show, but Steve only "wrestled" with crocodiles in the process of rescuing or relocating them. "
Uh no David Becker. I never watched his shows because his methods were revolting. I know about him though because I did see him on talk shows for celebs, you know those promo shows to interview stars and tattle the latest gossip. Yes, he actually appeared in the US on many of those shows. ANd when he did, he put on his own show, manhandling and tormenting wild animals that didn't need either of those things, all for the joy and adulation of his audience (morons).
That is not entertainment.
That is not conservationism.
That is not animal advocacy.
That is just moronic, brutish, egotistic, macho, self-serving behavior. After all, he had to keep up the act in order to rake in all the big bucks and maintain his fame among dunderheads who couldn't figure out that he was just an animal abuser.
I say "right on, Germaine!"
Still it's sad for his kids but he chose that high risk of fatherlessness for them, nice smart guy that he was.
In response to Matt's distastefull analysis of Steve Irwin's career as an animal conservationist. If it were not for people like Steve, animals, especially endangered animals would cease to exsist. The exposure or "exploitation" as you like to call it is what opens people eyes to the animal world. And sometimes it takes someone "crazy" like Steve was to get people's attention, besides that watching them die in the wild does nothing for them. Because the poachers and hunters are worried about their extinction, someone has to be! I suppose that you are a person that is more of a talker than a doer? But you enjoy sitting back and watching them all die quietly. As for me I choose to fight for them!
So, let me get this straight, Jeleen. You never watched Steve's show. Yet you know the secret recesses of the man's heart enough to know why he did the things that he did -- despite the empirical evidence to the contrary? Or is NOT watching the best way to know?
And even IF you are right, animals still got, get and will get saved because of him.
So lighten up with the Steve hating, the new bandwagon of the contentious elite. Damn, since when did disagreement equal insight?
I have to agree with Matt9000 and others. Steve Irwin was a good media performer and did go some way to promote wildlife, however I think his schtick was akin to the damaging gung-ho style of Timothy Tredwell (see Werner Herzog's film Grizzly Man), rather than other wildlife experts who knew to keep a healthy and respectful distance.
Growing up in Australia, we were always taught how to shuffle our feet in the sand to scare off stingrays, which are some of the most timid creatures in the sea.
Although it is very sad for his family, by treating wild animals as a form of entertainment was probably always going to end up in tragedy.
Johnny, I saw him appear on TV at least 20 times over the years. I know what I saw and it wasn't pretty. That's why I had no desire to see more of his abusive antics and never tuned in to his show. Why someone would want to watch animals being teased and tortured for no reason, I just cannot fathom. I have better things to occupy my time than to watch that kind of ugliness.
As I already wrote, he appeared on Tonight Show with Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brian, Entertainment Tonight and several other similar types of shows, even some running during the daytime. I certainly did not need to turn on his show to see what it was about when many of these appearances showed clips of his "adventures" which were presumably from his shows. Each also included his tales of living on the edge, with details of his "hunting" and "domination" of animals and the close calls he had doing this. Each of those appearances also featured him showing his extreme dominance (along with his idiocy) over some poor wild animal "live and up close" on the show. The poor animals had been brought on the show for him to wrestle into submission and play his brutish part. Each show made it clear to me that he reveled in just doing cruel stupid things like teasing the animals mercilessly. There was never a purpose to any of this "entertainment", it was just done because apparently he wanted to show himself as fearless. But he always looked like the biggest idiot on earth in my opinion.
As I already said:
That is not entertainment.
That is not conservationism.
That is not animal advocacy.
That is just moronic, brutish, egotistic, macho, self-serving behavior. After all, he had to keep up the act in order to rake in all the big bucks and maintain his fame among dunderheads who couldn't figure out that he was just an animal abuser.
And as I also wrote:
Still it's sad for his kids but he chose that high risk of fatherlessness for them, nice smart guy that he was.
Footnote: I wish death for no one, not even those I do not like or do not respect. It's a real shame this guy didn't have a decent brain in his head so he could have avoided making a widow and a couple of fatherless children. They didn't deserve that and they certainly are entitled to their grief and pain. My heart goes out to them but not to him.
But just because someone has caused their own death doesn't mean they were a hero. It doesn't mean that the whole world has to love them or what they stood for.
IMO he did more harm to animals by showing kids through his terrible example how to "interact" with them. And that was really just giving them the idea that they should tease, wrestle and dominate all other living beings like he did. That is just wrong and no one can ever convince me otherwise.
And IMO, Jeleen, the unabashed celebrity worship of the shows you saw Steve on has done far worse damage to the environment than Steve. Idolizing over-paid, over-consumptive public performers encourages kids to emulate their profligate ways. I'd rather my kids expressed Steve's honest love of wildlife than David Letterman's fawning over nubile starlets.
So Jeleen and Toppage don't think that Mr. Irwin was one of the good guys. He was no Treadwrong who wanted to prove brown bears wouldn't eat him because they were his friends. There is no comparison between the two. Steve Irwin was spending his money to help all endangered animals. Timmy Treadwrong was spending his money on camping in a National Park to protect bears from imaginary poachers. Treadwrong who's real name was Dexter had one reason for doing what he did, it was to try and make himself a star, Steve would have been doing what he was doing even without the camera he would just have had to do it with less money.
Oh come on, KPod. Those shows are not only about fawning over starlets. What about the former presidents, authors, screenwriters, directors, athletes, inventors, musicians, comedians, and so many more people, even every day Joes, who are guests on these shows? Sure, I think fawning over Lindsay Lohan, Paris or others of that ilk is just as reprehensible as you. But those shows are not focused solely on starlet worship. They showed Mr Irwin for who he was - I saw a cruel brute, you saw an animal lover. That difference in perception is part of reality. Deal with it instead of trying to make weak excuses.
The bits on talk shows certainly were tripe. But his normal show was more about getting young people into saving animals and the planet. And the latter is what his real business was, not the stupid stuff he did late at night. If you only watched the former, you most certainly did miss the real Steve, no matter how many times you saw him on Letterman. Or at least, the night-time Steve was further than the real Steve than the Steve's show Steve, if the Steve of Steve's show was not the real Steve, and we really have no reason to say that it wasn't. (That's getting complicated, lol.)
If he taught kids to wrestle and torture animals, one could expect to read stories on the news about some kid in middle America getting mauled because he tried to mimic Steve, but I've never heard of any such story. You do hear lots of stories about him inspiring people in GOOD ways, which is not subject to mine or anyone else's humble opinion.
No one says that everyone has to love Steve. But out of the respect that so many people claim to harbor toward a man who just died tragically, one would think we could keep our Steve hating to ourselves -- out of said respect.
It's a shame some people are using this site to express their distaste for Steve Irwin. I also found this site under a search & after reading had to post. Steve was out there - some times way out there! If you watched any of his shows he never did anything to make kids want to go wrestle wild animals. He showed them what the animal would do if pressed. That if you get around a wild animal you need to watch yourself - they will allow you so close then they will go for you.
If you saw him with his loves - the crocs, he explained what their posturing meant, how far they could jump from the water and on land. I never had any idea a croc could jump so far up out of water! He tried to explain that you should stay back & watch them, protect them before they're gone. Now he is. Who's going to be in your face like he was to get the message out? I wasn't a big follower but I do appreciate what he's done to get people's attention - especially the young.
As for him going for the big bucks - well, check it out...he's put most of what he's pulled in to purchase land to protect wildlife, for conservation, for the animals he so loved. He's done all this without shouting to the world "look what I've done, aren't I a hero". He did what he loved doing, I only hope his legacy will help protect what he loved.
I liked Steve Irwin . . . a whole bunch! Others don't and so what.
There's a great quote by John Wesley that says "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn." Steve Irwin was a man on fire with enthusiasm and he drew people to him. Obviously, not all of us. lol But enough of us!
His energy awed me. Most of us walk through life expending most of our energy trying to stay safe--leaving little to mark our passing. Steve was a man with a mission. Not a perfect man . . . flawed like all of us, but willing to put his life on the line for what he believed. I'm saddened that he's dead. I hope his wife, children, family and close friends can find a way to continue teaching about the importance of wildlife. conservation.
Hmmm... I've seen him rescue trapped animals, assist in removing animals stuck due to floods, remove hooks, ropes, etc that entangled animals, help control non-native species that were devastating natural habitates, etc etc etc. Oh yeah, and he went on freakin talk shows. Big &$*#@&in' deal. Greer and her ilk are insensitive, ignorant, and maybe just a dash evil.
The untimely passing of Steve Irwin is a great tragedy. This has effected my family more than I could have imagined; he has been a great influence on myself and my two boys. The world will never be the same. In the past, I have dealt with this type of emotional pain through music. Being a song writer and composer, I have written musical compositions and songs to honour friends, family, and fallen heroes to ease the pain and commemorate the contributions they've made in life. Steve falls under the obvious catagory of "HERO." Please accept and share with the world this musical tribute in honour of the great "CROCODILE HUNTER" Steve Irwin.. WE LOVE YOU STEVE!!
Sincerely:
David James
P.S. - You can visit me at: http;//www.davidjamesmusic.net
and download the musical tribute "THE MIGHTY STEVE"
Jeleen,
How would you know what he does on his show if you havn't seen it. I would like to know what you do for the environment to make you think that your any better than him. He is a fantastic role model. You must have a sad sorry life! And the comment about him doing it to make the big bucks, yes thats true, first he pays his staff etc. and then he puts the rest to buying conservation land.
You said he has no brain, I say you have no heart.
jacob white 14
I revisited this post to add that there's an AP story running in which Jean-Michel Cousteau comes down on my side of the fence.
To those who branded my post as indignant and disrespectful, I'm afraid we have a misunderstanding.
hi steve you will be graetley missed by all bindi your dad absolutely adored you steve was my idol and he was such a legend to the whole worldhe loved his dog sue and took her every where and he loved rob terri and bindi very much i hope for the best in the future yours sincecerly zoe blackwell xxxx