As a longtime lover of the Animal Planet channel and the Crocodile Hunter, I was so sad to hear of the death Steve Irwin. I've watched his various shows and documentaries for many years and always got such a kick out of his enthusiasm. He was one of those people on tv who was "real" and I appreciated his passion for wildlife and his committment to educating people of all ages. I was checking out the website on Animal Planet and saw this recently posted FAQ:
Q: Rob Hermann of Chicago, Ill., wonders: Do you ever get nervous when confronting a deadly animal such as a snake or a croc?
A: Fear is a natural thing that us humans have. It keeps us alive. So every time I go in on a venomous snake, a crocodile, a bear, a cougar, a tiger shark — any wild animal, I get a little scared, a little nervy. Fear is a good thing.
Hopefully people won't get that whole, "that's what you get" attitude about the dangers of working near wildlife. You know, like that dude in the bear documentary who was killed and eaten and had chosen to have no weapons and to just hang out with the bears. It sounds like in this case, it was a totally bizarre situation where he just happened to get stuck by the stingray in his heart. One article quoted an Australian resarcher discussing how rare deaths like this are. In any case, what a tragedy for his family and fans. No one else, except maybe Jeff Corwin, will ever describe big, snakes as "a beauty."
1 comment:
This made me so sad too. I agree with you. It's still a tragedy, even though the job was dangerous. I also thought the Today Show showed poor taste on the morning the story broke by airing the footage of him defending himself after the whole croc incident with his son. The man just died. Respect him and his family and focus on all the great things he did instead!
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