Steve Irwin Dead

mkosmo writes "News.com.au is reporting that Steve Irwin was killed in a freak accident while filming one of his well known documentaries. Surprisingly it wasn't a crocodile, it was a sting-ray."

Honestly, this was a long time coming

[grasshoppa]

I feel for his kids. These poor kids are going to grow up with a father. All they are going to really know about him is going to be what they see on TV.

Thanks Steve

[RunFatBoy.net]

Steve should be commended for his efforts over the years. His enthusiasm was infectious.

Unfortunately, while he stood as a model environmentalist, he now stands as an example of the dangers of directly interacting with wild animals.

Jim
http://www.runfatboy.net/ [runfatboy.net] - Exercise for the rest of us.

Re:Freak Accident?

[Archades54]

it's VERY unlucky to be stung and die from a stingray, they don't actively defend themselves, so it most likely just swam past and accidentally flicked him.

i live 200km South of where it happened, makes me realize how much caution you need around the wildlife of the sea.

R.I.P. Steve.

[ColaMan]

Poor old Steve - but at least went out was doing what he loved, as opposed to getting hit by a bus or something.
I met him briefly once or twice - he was a friend of a friend - and while he used to ham it up for the cameras, he was a nice guy and very passionate about wildlife.

*sigh*

He will be missed.

The world is lessened

[Wylfing]

I heard about this a couple of hours ago while talking online on a MUD I used to code for. The first thought I had was that the world was a lesser place without him, just like the world was reduced when Fred Rogers passed. This was a Grade-A human being, and in an odd way very important to me. Let's just say my dog's name is Bindi.

Good luck, Steve.

Darwin

[Mark_MF-WN]

You know that Mister Irwin has already reproduced successfully, right? And that he will leave quite a bit of money to his offspring? I'll lay 10-to-1 odds that his offspring will be more successfull than any of ours. They'll have their father's wealth, outstanding physical health, and at least a shred of his fame.

Respect

[riceboy50]

I am a little appalled by the reaction of many /.ers. This was a guy with a family. You have no idea whether he was responsible and careful with animals, not being animal trainers yourselves. All you have is your uninformed opinion about it. Have a little respect for the guy, if only because he was more than just a TV star.

Invincible

[Freaky Spook]

The way his character was built though, he became a living legend, you sort of just expected him to live and keep doing what he did.

A lot of people I have spoken to feel the same way, much like when Princess Di died, its just almost inconceivable.

He was a controversial Australian hero and I hope he will be remembered for all the good things he did and not just the bad.

Re:oblig

[Wind_Walker]

It's called a "defense mechanism". I was making jokes during 9/11 too, because it helped me deal with it.

It was funny. Dark and morbid, sure. But funny.

Re:oblig

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

How the fuck is that funny? You pieces of shit.

It is damn funny. Irwin himself has probably play-acted a death like that a hundred times for the comedic effect.

Besides, all humor originates from the misfortune of others. Try to come up with something funnier than a knock-knock joke that isn't at the expense of someone - you'll be at it for quite a while.

RIP, Steve

[ekhben]

Like him or think he's a tool, he's entertained millions for years, and he's done his bit to help the environment, both through education and monetary contributions. Take a moment to reflect on that, THEN post yer jokes. ;)

Re:oblig

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

No, someone died who did more than you EVER will!

Your sentence does not parse. I suggest you stop frothing.

I'd like to go up to you now and stab a fucking stingray barb through your heart! THEN find it funny!

Actually, the irony of your statement is very funny. Here you are going on and on about how terrible it is to joke at death, and now you have gone waaaay beyond that and are making death threats. You are clearly unbalanced if you think you've got any moral high ground any more.

Re:Thanks Steve

[NineNine]

"Unfortunately, while he stood as a model environmentalist, he now stands as an example of the dangers of directly interacting with wild animals."

Why is this unfortunate? I think that this is fortunate in two ways:

1. Stupid people are less likely to mess with wild animals. That's good for the animals.

2. People are reminded that no matter what kind of technology we have, nature is going to get ALL of us in the end, and there's a good chance that many of us could be easily wiped out by something as massive as a hurricane or as wild as a stingray (apparently). It teaches people to be both humbled and awed by nature. That's good for people.

Ignoring all the stupid crap

[rampant mac]

Ignoring all the stupid crap and lame jokes that I'm sure will get posted well before (and after) I make my comments....

*You* may have not liked the guy; maybe you hated him. His style, his 'in your face attitude' about "Outback" animals might have been a little bit too 'kooky' for what most mainstream Americans are used to. But anyway...

I met him once while on a flight out to LA (I think he was doing the Late Show /w Leno) and honestly I've never met anyone who had such a zest for life. Seriously, the guy was so upbeat about EVERYTHING, it was hard to ignore him.

People like him are so special. I'll never forget him, and I hope you all won't either.

Re:Respect

[linguizic]

Oh come on! If I had his job I would expect people to crack wise if I died the way he did. Yes, he was a good guy, and I feel bad for his family. But look at it this way: this summer my mom was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemo. To relieve stress my brother and I would tell yo' mama jokes and they would always end up with "oh yeah? well yo' mama has cancer" which got the biggest laughs. You have to laugh at death, or else you're just going to feel like shit all the time.

My mother's in remission if anyone cares.

An awesome life full of adventure

[Pizaz]

I admire Steve's courage, his enthusiasm, his zest for life and for letting us all share a little bit of the wondererous life he lived. Many of us can only hope to be so lucky as to live a life that isn't mundane, tedious and predictable. Steve's been to more places, witnessed more beautiful and fascinating cultures and people and animals than most of us would if we had 3 lives to live. He knew the risks and chose to live his life the way he wanted to live it. Not many people can say that. We're all gonna die. Might as well go out while living life to the fullest.

Ironically...

[patio11]

Steve Irwin mustered more humanity for the lowest lizard on one of his documentaries than /. seems to be able to muster for him. "reproduced successfully" "offspring" These are not words which one generally uses with regards to people, and certainly not when a family is currently grieving the loss of their father.

Re:oblig

[cloricus]

I did find that comment funny and people should laugh, it's not disrespectful in light of the sort of man he was... I have met him several times and it is a shame to lose such a great popular figure who wasn't a poser. Though my thoughts are with his lovely wife and two children, one of which is to young to remember him, and I hope they are able to deal with this. R.I.P.

Re:Thanks Steve

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Unfortunately, while he stood as a model environmentalist, he now stands as an example of the dangers of directly interacting with wild animals.

Wild animals can be dangerous and there's no way around that. In combination with his intended message, his death is probably a good lesson to leave nature alone, and that's one of the best environmental messages one can give.

Doin What He Loved

[blueZhift]

All jokes aside, like most people in dangerous professions, he knew the risks and died doing what he loved to do. Given a choice of ways to go, that's not so bad.

Re:Now that's ironic

[linguizic]

If by "someone who is the epitome of everything that geeks are not" you mean he had a tan from actually being out in sunlight, then yeah he was the opposite of a geek. But I define geeks as people who are dedicated to their passions. It maybe an esoteric passion, but a passion nonetheless. Some geeks are passionate about Star Trek and finding security flaws in the Linux kernel, while others are passionate about music and art. Steve Irwin's passion for living creatures makes him a geek in my book.

Re:oblig

[MillionthMonkey]

Well, it's shocking to think that the guy is no longer with us, and on top of that, it's shocking that it's shocking.

Re:With all due respect to the man ...

[Anonymous Coward]

As an American, I can only wish people identified my nationality with someone as sincerely pleasant and frank as Steve Irwin. You could do a lot worse.

Re:Thanks Steve

[LarsWestergren]

Steve should be commended for his efforts over the years. His enthusiasm was infectious. Unfortunately, while he stood as a model environmentalist, he now stands as an example of the dangers of directly interacting with wild animals.

I always preferred Sir David Attenborough. That is someone who truly loves and respects nature. Perhaps Steve did too, but watching his show it seemed to be more about him being wild and wacky and less about the animals. They were just there to be annoyed and do "dangerous" things.

Try wathing Living Planet, Life in the Undergrowth, Blue Planet or something like that. Better footage, better science, better drama...

Re:Thanks Steve

[ozbird]

Luckily computer parts don't have sharp claws.

Some do - and I have the scars to prove it. Anyone who has worked elbow deep in an old computer case (the ones without rolled edges) will know what I'm talking about.

Re:Thanks Steve

[Phroggy]

Yeah, I was about to say, if you've never been bitten by a computer, you haven't worked with PC hardware much.

Re:I'm surprisingly upset

[AcidDan]

I think every Australian cringes to a point with Steve (usually because he reminds us of how we really are), before they find out about the man behind the Crocodile Hunter. A few things that I found out from a mate that works at Australia Zoo changed my opinion of him: Firstly, he is genuinely like that - in front of the screen and in everyday life: a larger than life character that is always enthusiastic about wildlife. You can only respect genuiness of spirit. Something I think a lot of us miss today.

Secondly, he spends all the money he gets reinvesting into australian wildlife in one form or another. Hearing that he buys up huge tracts of land just so the animals living there could just do their thing really got my respect.

I think it's appropriate that he died doing the things that he loved, but my condolences go to his family, who more than anyone else will fell the loss of a husband, father and decent bloke.

-- Dan =(

Re:oblig

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey dipshit!

You wanna know what is not funny? The 5 million people who have been murdered or killed by disease and famine in Rwanda and the Congo over the last deacde. That shit is not funny.

One celebrity kicking the bucket because he deliberately risked his own life is NOTHING compared to what was done to those people.

You need a god damn sense of perspective you fucking self righteous twit.

Re:why did it kill him?

[timeOday]

Stingrays are generally non-aggressive and intelligent creatures. They have been called the "pussycat of the sea,"

Yeah, but that's always the official line on animals. No matter how many surfers are eaten by sharks in a year, every single news report of an attack will always say how unusual it is, and how sharks normally don't attack people.

On the other hand, since it was Stever Irwin, it's easy to imagine he was trying to horse around with them. I don't see why that makes people vindictive though. When Dale Earnhart died, I didn't hear anybody say "Ha! Only a fool would drive in Nascar!" We all choose to take some chances, and my guess (just a guess) is that if there had been 100,000 Stever Irwins, more would have died in traffic accidents than due to animals.

I thought the exact thing

[Kunta Kinte]

The first thought I had was that the world was a lesser place without him,...

Even after reading the story, I smiled when I saw him in character. This guy was an amazing educator and entertainer.

First thing that crossed my mind was "With all what's going on, this world needs more Steve Irwin's, not less".

R.I.P. Croc' Hunter

Re:With all due respect to the man ...

[Sage Gaspar]

As an American, I can only wish people identified my nationality with someone as sincerely pleasant and frank as Steve Irwin. You could do a lot worse.

This is true. Americans, even from our own media, are labelled obese, violent, culturally insensitive lackwits. We're identified with a jingoist leader that 50% of us opposed. Even those of us who challenge the stereotypes and work to change things (though I am a fatass, so I guess one strike) get to deal with the constant barrage of negative images.

Of course, living in the wealthiest center of power in the western world certainly has advantages, so I can't complain, but I've never really found it possible to take pride in my country the same way others do. I wouldn't be upset at all if we were identified with a loveably corny and passionate conservationist and educator. I know Steve Irwin represented a stereotype, but I've never thought of it as a particularly negative one.

Dealing with risks.

[rew]

I have always had the impression that Steve got slightly too close to the dangerous animals. Sure, he was better at this than I am, and he probably "knew what he was doing" most of the time.....

But still.... If at one point in time you decide to do something dangerous that has a 1/1000 chance of getting you killed, there is a better than 99% chance (99.9% in fact) that you'll survive. If this happens a couple of times during your lifetime. Fine. If 1000 people live similarly dangerously as you, some get killed. Fact of life.

Because Steve did this kind of dangerous stuff on a dayly basis, his chances of survival drop significantly. Statistics.

In practise it's worse than what theoretical statistics predict: after surviving 99 dangerous (say 1/1000) situations humans think they have things under control, and will start to engage in even more dangerous behaviour (say 1/100). Pushing the limits.

Freak accident? No. Statistics caught up with him.

Re:Respect

[capologist]

You have to laugh at death, or else you're just going to feel like shit all the time.

Exactly. And it's important not to feel like shit, because if you feel like shit, then other people aren't going to be able to criticize you for not feeling like shit and pat themselves on the back for being superior. So, for their sakes, laugh.

Re:oblig

[Shanep]

No, someone died who did more than you EVER will!

Do you know this person? Do you know what they have achieved, their abilities and their future? Grow a sense of humour! Steve was a carricature of the Aussie larakin. He'd be making jokes like this now if he could.

When I heard about this on the news flash which interupted Blue Heelers, I thought, "I can just imagine the scene. Steve is molesting some poor stingray. He got belted in the chest with its tail and then he's gone up to the camera and said, 'CRIKEY! Look at that! This fella has got me right in the chest!'", while he bleeds for the camera.

I always figured that an animal would ultimately kill him. I always thought it would be a croc. I find it pretty amazing that a stingray got him. My grandfather used to catch them on a hand line from his dingy. He always warned me about their sting and I knew they'd killed people, but one of them against Steve? He'd probably be disappointed. I rekon he'd rather have "Eaten by a crocodile" on his tombstone.

Re:oblig

[tezbobobo]

Yeah. I'm with this guy. What we need is some sort of advocacy program. What I propose is this. We all log in as ACs and bitch about how people whine when celebrities die and bout how many other people are dying. We could do this with our costly internet connection. Then we could tell people that money could've been spent of anti-malarial vaccines. We can do this instead of actually going out and fundraising. Then we could bitch about how people like us, exactly like us, aren't doing anything about it.

I think the only righteous person here is you mister AC. Shut the fuck up.

(I just added that very last bit coz everyones doing it today).

Re:oblig

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to buy into the "defense mechanism" garbage but not anymore. It used to be that stoic people are looked up to, but, really, using jokes to deal with September 11th? Did you invest yourself into the same stock of emotions the media deals out just like with any other tragedy? Fuck, 99% of people "dealing" with it never knew anybody there nor would have cared about them minus the tragedy.

Give me a fucking break. Unless you actually had friends/family DIE in that - you aren't dealing with pain, you're feeling a loss of national pride and perhaps suddenly feeling a bit more vulnerable. But yucking it up and making yourself self-important with that BS - "Oh, all the pain I have to deal with!" - is not respectful to the families.

People should STFU right after something like this happens just for a week or two out of respect for the family if nothing else. To do otherwise is to hear yourself talk.

Re:oblig

[lazybeam]

His name was flashed up over Ready Steady Cook today. How many people get that happen to them? He is (was?) an Australian Icon.

Re:With all due respect to the man ...

[Anonymous Coward]

50% of us opposed

Wasn't it more like 30% approved, 30% opposed, 39% couldn't be bothered voting, 1% were denied the right to vote?

Re:oblig

[QRDeNameland]

Steve Irwin vs Tommy Cooper for most ironic death?

What about Jim Fixx? [wikipedia.org]

Re:oblig

[pyrote]

Gotta say, it's a hell of alot better way to die than an alergic reaction to an ointment or something.

He died doing what he does best, and what he loves. If only we were so lucky.

Rest in Peace my friend, I hope you can help heaven out with the croc problems :)

Re:oblig

[jacksonj04]

Nobody is denying that his death is a sad state of affairs for many people, let alone his family who will be going through the obvious trauma of losing someone close to them. What they are doing is applying humour to the situation. If there's anybody I can imagine coming out with a witty line about getting a stingray barb to the chest, it's Steve Irwin.

Nobody is laughing at him except in the eyes of a few people. Many of us are choosing to remember him by what he did.

That said, I agree with your Jackass comment, which is a blatent failure of humour.

Re:Honestly, this was a long time coming

[jazzmans]

the fact that his childs name was an indigenous species of his native land is a good thing IMO, not a bad thing. (weed is a very subjective term, in fact I like most things that get called 'weed', not just pot)

Now, the fact is I've made as much fun of him as most folks, and I thought the 'crikey' quote was a good epitaph, but it is sad nonetheless.

I'll hoist a beer to him at the bar tomorrow, that I know.

I'd suspect he'd make a joke as well.

jaz

Re:Thanks Steve

[Lehk228]

i hate those things, rough internal frameworks are fun too, i've sliced plenty of knuckels working with hard drives and memory on older machines

Re:He played the game

[nickos]

"The more intelligent, more healthy person will likely have more healthy intelligent children"

Yes, that's the theory, but in reality it seems to be the less intelligent people who are having all the kids while smarter professional couples have less or no children...

Re:oblig

[kestasjk]

I don't know why everyone seems surprised that it wasn't a croc. It seems much more likely that he'd get killed by an animal which he's not experienced with. I've seen him have a very close encounter with a spitting cobra amongst others (luckily he was wearing glasses, even though he didn't realise it spat), just because he wasn't familiar with cobras.

He's much less likely to get killed by the animal he's the most familiar with, and which he learnt about from his father.

Freak accident or asking for it?

[DrXym]

Sucks to be his family, but his basic modus was to pick-up, provoke or otherwise annoy wild and venomous animals. Therefore, "freak accident" is more like "asking for it".

While details are still muddled of his death it would not surprise me if he tried to touch one from above and accidentally triggered the stingray's automatic defence to flick the barb straight into his chest. You can't jump back, or dodge, or do anything in water if an animals reacts. As such you'd think the rules of engagement (even for Steve) in the water would be far stricter than on land.

Re:oblig

[MrNaz]

I'm all for perspective in addressing tragedy and agree that the ridiculous coverage 9/11 gets cf the millions that die annually in the third word is farcical, but seriously, "this whack off" was a fairly higly regarded and popular figure especially among children. His death is at least noteworthy and if you think it is not, a respectful silence would be appreciated by those who will miss his informative and entertaining documentaries.

Re:oblig

[Kokuyo]

Possibly, but I for one am glad that it was neither a croc nor a snake. This way it actually was an accident since sting-rays, accoring to Wikipedia, don't even actively defend themselves...

This will not keep the media from screaming "We told you so" of course. But some of us who think beyond the tips of our noses can at least say that he always knew what he was doing. He always knew the risk he was taking. This time he took a really small risk with little chance of actually happening and bang it got him. That can happen to anyone.

It isn't heroic how he died. But at least he didn't earn himself an entry to the Darwin Awards. At least in my world he will be missed. And while I don't see the need to get on your people's nerves about the jokes, I myself do not feel like joking at all... perhaps tomorrow.

Have you quite finished?

[sn00ker]

Get the fuck over yourself! My father died of a stroke on a Friday. On the Monday I went to school (I was 14) for the first couple of periods, and between the two someone asked how I was (at this point Dad's death was a very closely-held secret, and this boy hadn't heard). My response? "How would you feel if your father was lying in a casket in your living room?"

Black humour is natural, even healthy. Once you've finished your holier-than-thou anti-religion bullshit, go and smack yourself over the head with a reality stick. Hard. Please. For the good of humanity.
All your rant has done is show that you're a sanctimonious prick with nothing better to do than preach to the rest of us. Get back to your hole and get some experience in dealing with death, then return and tell us how horribly insenstive you are. Better still, go hang out with some fire fighters for a few shifts. Reckon you've got the testicular fortitude to tell them off for "crispy critter" jokes after a fatal fire? No, didn't think so.

He made reptiles respectable

[Derling Whirvish]

I always preferred Sir David Attenborough. That is someone who truly loves and respects nature.

I agree about Sir David Attenborough greatness, but the difference is how thay handled reptiles. After watching Sir David Attenborough, if I found a snake in the back yard I would still chop off its head with a hoe. After watching Steve Irwin, I would think twice and maybe call someone to take it away. Steve changed the image of reptiles from nasty creatures that you kill on sight to animals that should be respected the same as the furry cute ones.

Re:Honestly, this was a long time coming

[binkzz]

"I feel for his kids. These poor kids are going to grow up with a father."

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/6362/lawlmn9.jp g [imageshack.us]

=(

Re:With all due respect to the man ...

[Dave Emami]

We're identified with a jingoist leader that 50% of us opposed.

Argh. Look, can we please keep the politics out of non-political topics? You don't like Bush, fine. You're perfectly entitled to your opinion. If this was an article about the Patriot Act or somesuch, that opinion would be relevant, and I might even agree with you. But why does it have to pop up in a discussion about the death of an Australian naturalist/celebrity?

I know I'm ranting out of proportion to your specific post, and I apologize. It's just that this seems to be happening all the freaking time lately, no matter how tenous the connection to the topic is, and it's driving me batty. It's like playing one of those word assocation games at a party, but somehow it always steers itself to "Bush." I'm waiting for it to happen in "LDAP Authentication in Linux" or "Rethinking the Thinkpad" or maybe the "Favorite Sweetener" poll.

Re:Honestly, this was a long time coming

[Fred Porry]

The guy _DIED_ and you people are pissing on him? How classy.

Thank you! I was reading the first postings and couldnt believe it.

I dont give a damn about this guy but pissing on him/making fun about his death the way those guys up there did? Never.

Re:oblig

[__aaxwdb6741]

You are the same kind of self-righteous egomaniac dipsit I hate for censoring good peoples opinions on Slashdot.

Mod points are not supposed to give you the power to emphasise your own opinions. They are supposed to help you weed out the bad quality posts from the good quality posts. Notice how I'm using the word quality here. The quality of a post is not determined by how well you agree with the poster. Quality is about how well-written this persons opinions are, how much real information is passed, and how little of that is bullshit.

When I get mod points, I only mod up posts which are against my own opinion but are written in a manner which makes me respect that opinion. And everyone should do that.
This is why people use the Post Anonymously button. So they dont get a permanent censor on their opinions by people who just cant handle the fact that not everybody agrees with their world view and morality.

Steve Irwin is dead, so what? We all have to die at some point, and the fact that he died doing what he liked is just pure awesome! His family will probably experience a brief period of justified sadness. However, the rest of you people who only "knew" this dude from his documentaries and whichever press he might have accumulated, I just want to say - get a fucking grip!

Re:oblig

[kdemetter]

Man , everyone is so angry today . I don't see why you can't laugh with it , and why you can't mourn either . do whatever you think you should do . But don't become angry because someone else isn't doing exactly the same thing . laughing at it sort of a defense mechanism , it's exacly what sarcasm and cynism is all about .

Freak accident???

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this a freak accident? He got into the water, and put his chest in the sting-ray's possible-whip-path. What happened was a known risk.

If he had been walking down the street and gotten stabed in the chest by a sting-ray's stinger, THAT would've been a freak accident.



Anyway, RIP Steve, and my condolences to his family :(

Re:Quick! Think of something funny!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow. You're a moron.

To actually think we don't realize death is real? and death is painful, not only to us, but to others?

Just leave /., we don't need your kind here ;)

Re:oblig

[el_monkeyo]

Personally I would strongly recommend never reading the comments on Slashdot on non-computer topics you feel strongly about. You'll only get pissed off with the ill-informed arseholes "making light" of the situation. I stopped after seeing initial comments about the 2004 Asian Tsunami (which killed a quarter of a million people lets not forget) turn into a discussion about Arthur C. Clarke.

Re:oblig

[Diag]

Comparing this to 9/11, is hardly relevant (I know parent AC didn't raise the subject). Irwin was one man who died because of his own misadventures.

Being Australian and having known quite a few that are as "ocker" as Steve Irwin was, I don't think he'd be offended by the "Crikey! Did you see that little bugger? He got me right in the chest!" joke. I think he would expect it, and would probably get a laugh out of it.

Re:He was an arse

[Anonymous Coward]

But we gained a troll.

My son ...

[kitzilla]

... will be completely crushed. Steve Irwin was to our kids as Wild Kindom was for people my age. I can't imagine how many young minds were directed to the natural sciences by Irwin's work.

Which seems a pretty good legacy, when you think about it. But our thoughts turn to his wife and young family.

It's true that Irwin died doing what hew loved. It would have been better if he were 80, though. What a sad thing.

Re:oblig

[WebCrapper]

Unfortunately, he died working on Bindy's project. I feel sorry for her now because that will come back to haunt her in a few years when she starts to think about it.

This is Slashdot, right?

[sgant]

From reading all the moronic comments below I thought I was on Digg.com for a moment instead of Slashdot. I had hoped that all the script-kiddies and "l33t d00dz" had gone to Digg, but this proves they're still here at Slashdot.

Oh well, maybe when Web 3.0 comes along they'll leave then.

Why this is unfortunate

[pedantic bore]

Because he's DEAD.

It's unfortunate that a good person had to DIE to help make the self-evident and well-known points you mention.

Re:The real deal

[krayzkrok]

Actually that's not quite correct. Steve very vocally lobbied the environment minister in his opposition to the safari hunting program. What came out later was that the environment minister was about to approve the program based on very strong scientific, economic and social evidence, until Steve Irwin took him to see some crocs, wined and dined him, and basically caused him to rethink his decision. In other words, the environment minister ignored all the factual evidence in favour of one man's emotional appeal. Not everyone would regard this as informed conservation strategy.

Steve always put animals first and common sense second, whether it was his own personal safety or his conservation recommendations. Still, nobody ever wished his fate upon him and it's sad to see him go - he was a "spanner in the works" that kept people on their toes. He ultimately did a lot of good things for crocs, and for that I respected him.

Re:glad that's over

[AbRASiON]

I'm an Australian who can comfortably agree with this.

The man was an idiot, from agiating animals to acting backwards and "bogan" for cash, he's exploited Australian stereotypes, generally made the whole country a laughing stock and well done just plain dumb shit.

of COURSE one of these days poking these poor bloody things they will jab you, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

I am sorry for his wife and kids but I really won't miss this idiot.
Mod me down all you like, this is my opinion.

For reference, not a single person at work didn't have a laugh about this, seriously - the man was a laughing stock here.

oMG ROFL SKATES!!

[tompee]

Isn't this hilarious! omg... CRIKEY! I'm DEAD... CRIKEY!! GET IT? LOLLOL

I'm sure I'll be instantly reprimanded, reminded of the place of black humour, and told how much of a wuss I am being. In fact I'm sure there are armies of nerds just waiting to pounce on anyone who is silly enough to object to the clammering for "funny" mod points before the story gets old. Black humour does have it's place, and I did expect there to be a lot here, but when the entire top half of this page is filled with these comments modded "+5 funny", something about it is just a bit disheartening, quite frankly.

So anyway, I'm not sure who won this round of the perpetual /. competition to be the 'uber nerd', to show that you're too cool to care (especially when people might expect you to care), but I would just like to show some 'weakness' and say that I find this part of todays news to be kind of sad.

He could be annoying, embarassing, he courted danger (and eventually paid the price)... but he was so exuberant and positive, and niave in a way. No one can accuse him of being fake or caring about himself more than the environment so many of us neglect as matter of mere convenience. Something about his positive outlook and naive manner in contrast with his early death just seems sad to me. Poor bloke

Re:oblig

[Spurion]

Okay Anonymous Coward, try looking at it this way: making light of particular bad news is just a symptom of a world view that would rather not worry about bad news in general. Nobody (that I know of) makes jokes about September 11th because they think September 11th was a personal loss. Plenty of people make jokes about September 11th because it's a stark reminder that, however hard we try, humanity is still a messed up bunch of animals and we'll all still be dead in the end. They'd rather treat death the same way as anything else life throws at them, instead of investing in the same stock of emotions the media deal out just like with any other tragedy.

As for Steve Irwin, he seemed to be a great guy and I hope that everyone who knew him finds their way to deal with his death.

Re:oMG ROFL SKATES!!

[Pneuma ROCKS]

Black humour does have it's place, and I did expect there to be a lot here, but when the entire top half of this page is filled with these comments modded "+5 funny", something about it is just a bit disheartening, quite frankly.

I believe they/we do this because it's so much easier to come up with a joke than a serious comment, even for such a great guy as he apparently was (just read it off wikipedia). Furthermore, I think it's healthy to have a good laugh, even in sad occasions such as this.

Re:oblig

[at_slashdot]

You want to say that seeing people die horrible deaths on live TV doesn't give you the right to be emotionally scared by it?

People react differently to tragedies, some people might have a death in family and live their life like nothing happened, somebody else might witness a tragedy and even if they don't have anybody close involved they might suffer from that event for a long time. People are different.

Not totally surprising, but very sad.

[FridayBob]

Over the years I've very much enjoyed watching Steve Irwin. I was shocked this morning to hear of his accident and my heart goes out to his family and friends.

Having said that, I can't say I'm totally surprised. I know something about snakes, including venomous species, having been fascinated by them from a very early age on. That's why I was so astonished when I saw Steve's program for the first time and how he handled snakes. The crocodiles are one thing; reptile wranglers and herpetologists since Ross Allen have employed much the same methods -- there's really no other good way to do it. But, the snakes! When I first saw how he went about "tailing" Australia's highly dangerous elapids, I thought he was nuts! I still think he was nuts for doing that -- in literature, such methods are never recommended. It simply involves risks that are better -- and easy -- to avoid. How can I say it: people in the same business just tend to live longer when they don't take such risks.

However, we got used to seeing him do those kind of things. It was obvious that Steve had a gift. Only someone who has been around reptiles all of his life and knows instinctively how they behave and react could have done those things and make it look so easy. Indeed, get away with it for so long! It was great for TV, that's for sure! But, I guess that same risk-taking mentality finally got the better of him when he strayed too far from his usual environment. I don't know, but he just seemed a little out of his own element whenever he strapped on a scuba tank over his normal work clothes. Unfortunately, he took that same risk-taking mentality into the water with him and ended up getting stabbed to death by a stingray. How unfortunate. A freak accident? Perhaps, but he was obviously too close and probably doing something most experts would not recommend. But then again, he was Steve Irwin, so what could we expect?

Was he crazy to do what he did? Maybe, maybe not. But, what he did do was use his talent to show the world that the creatures that he loved, the ones that give so many people nightmares, are actually fascinating. That they're not intrinsicly evil, but animals like any others, with important roles to play in the world's ecosystems. Except that they deserve a little more respect. On the whole, from an educational point of view, I think that what Steve did was good. Yes, he often took risks and seemed overly dramatic, but that also got a lot of people to watch his shows and learn things they otherwise would not have. That can only have been a good thing.

He will be sorely missed.

Re:oMG ROFL SKATES!!

[Cruise_WD]

The first thing in my inbox this morning when I got to work was a photoshopped picture of the BBC TV news desk with a picture of Commander Sam Shore from the old "Stingray" TV series on the big screen used for interviews. The caption was "Stingray deny involvement in death of Steve Irwin."

I then read about it here on Slashdot...

There's possibly something wrong when bad-taste photoshops are first with the news...

Re:oblig

[MrNaz]

Dude, get a grip and watch less Republican TV.

America kills willingly and deliberately. Panama, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Chile etc etc and that's only Latin America. Once you're finished down there ask yourself what exactly you were fighting for in Vietnam. And then ask yourself what you're really fighting about in Afghanistan and Iraq. Freedom? Safety? Anti-terrorism? Right, freedom from Saddam's rule? He wasn't stopping you from buying widgets from Wal-Mart. Safety from the Taleban? They had trouble finding a car that could travel from town to town, forget having the logistical capability to mount an attack outside their own borders. Anti-terrorism? You mean like Waco, Ruby Ridge and the LA Police [guzer.com]? The purpetrators of 9/11 aren't [informatio...house.info] even [surfingtheapocalypse.net] certain [apfn.net].

Questions of culpability aside, 9/11 is a pretext. Its repeated coverage is despicable, relegating the families of the dead to poster children for the "War on Terror" and destriction of civil rights.

Oh yea, and "these Islamic death cultists" really don't give two shits about Americans in America. Its the Americans outside America raping foreign coutries for oil, copper and manufactured goods. Try reading something that isn't state run propaganda before commenting on politics. If you think you have freedom of the press, you're fooling yourself. If you think that there really are "Islamic Crazy Cultists" out there who are sitting in a dark corner plotting to take away your freedoms, then you're missing the fact that your freedoms are actually being taken away by your own government. Wake up. For your own sake, I beg you to wake up.

Re:oblig

[JavaLord]

I'm all for perspective in addressing tragedy and agree that the ridiculous coverage 9/11 gets cf the millions that die annually in the third word is farcical,

9/11 gets a lot of coverage in the states because it was the first attack on American soil in 60 years. Yes, it is a more 'sexy' topic, so it gets more coverage. It's very much like how AIDS gets a lot of coverage in America but it's not in the top 10 'causes of death' lists. It kills in a horrific way, and spreads in a horrific way, so the media covers it.

The sad part is, I think most slashdotters are bright enough to realize that, and most of the "9/11 gets too much coverage" comments are anti-Americanism dressed up as pseudo-intellectual thought.

Re:Why do Australians hate the US so?

[MrNaz]

Well I've met my fair share of Americans and I can say that they come across as a little self-absorbed. I have met some great ones, and some of the best travel buddies I have made were American, but in general the view that they are concerned only with their own gratification and possess a smug sense of superiority seems to be the general view held by Australians. Perhaps its rooted in general ignorance of issues outside the US border, or perhaps its that attitude of "we're the best nation on Earth" or perhaps its even a little jealousy that America gets all the limelight.

While I believe American foreign policy is at the root of many of the world's social ills, and is long overdue for a hard, honest review, I don't hate Americans. I find them to be loud at times, but generally friendly people who are easy to get along with, if one is willing to put up some eccentricies.

Re:oblig

[Glass Lizard]

It's possible to look up to both of them. Gates has done quite a bit of philanthropic work in the past few years.

Re:oblig

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

"9/11 gets too much coverage"

I see. If an American says this, it's just a thing Americans know. But if a non-American says it it's anti-Americanism.

Well

[Sv-Manowar]

One of the lighter sides out this tragedy is the fact that he not only leaves the image of international wildlife conservation much higher in regard to millions of people across the world, but that he was also successful enough to enlarge his zoo using over $16 million in profits from his shows along with buying a lot more land than that for conservation use. His family and young children who have been left without a father are also financially secure and have a much better father figure to look up to when they grow up than most people ever will. Rest In Peace Steve, you were a great man.

Re:oblig

[brsmith4]

No, even if an American says this it is still considered anti-americanism (or an "america-hater" or "self-hating american", etc.). I've grown tired of nationalism and was under the impression that we were supposed to have cast that off some time ago. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I suppose I hate my country by virtue of my ambivalence towards the US in general and my complete lack of "patriotism".

As for Steve: May he always be remembered for his work in wildlife conservation and for bringing such causes to our attention via his unorthodox and entertaining antics.