I miss Steve Irwin....

I just got done flipping channels, and had a hard time watching Animal Planet tonight. Shows like "Weird, true, and freaky", "Untamed and uncut", and "Headline attacks" must have Steve Irwin turning in his grave.

A man puts his head in a 10' gator's mouth, and when he get's bitten, it's called an attack. The grizzly man spends countless summers invading the space of grizzlies, and when he and his girlfriend get killed, they explain very littl about the role his carelessness played. An Aussie croc re-locator moves a rather large croc, while the commentator refers to it as a "dangerous beast". I've seen many of these same clips on "Spike TV".

While these programs made the attempt to inform and explain the role human encroachment and harassment played in each "attack", and the nature of each animal in question, they lack the class and dedication to the cause of conservation which personified Steve Irwin. It has seemed to me lately, that AP has begun to place sensationalism over the values and beliefs of the man who helped to build it.

I just felt I needed to share tonight. Thanks for reading. Rest in peace, Steve Irwin...you are an inspiration and will be missed.

I disagree with your retrospective view of Steve Irwin.

While he was alive I found his antics, violations of various laws, handling techniques, misinformation, sensationalism and ratings driven garbage to be the antithesis of what I would expect out of an intelligent spokesperson for wildlife and conservation issues.

If anything, sensationalism and over the top whacky ratings driven garbage is the epitome of what Irwin stood for and Animal Planet is just continuing to uphold his legacy. In fact, until they show someone else stickingtheir thumb inside a penguin or killing a sea snake by jamming it's skull into a pane of glass, I'd say they have toned things down from the standards he set.

Originally Posted by Seamus Haley

I disagree with your retrospective view of Steve Irwin.

While he was alive I found his antics, violations of various laws, handling techniques, misinformation, sensationalism and ratings driven garbage to be the antithesis of what I would expect out of an intelligent spokesperson for wildlife and conservation issues.

If anything, sensationalism and over the top whacky ratings driven garbage is the epitome of what Irwin stood for and Animal Planet is just continuing to uphold his legacy. In fact, until they show someone else stickingtheir thumb inside a penguin or killing a sea snake by jamming it's skull into a pane of glass, I'd say they have toned things down from the standards he set.

While I respect your opinion, I still feel that he did alot for the reptile community insofar as education. His handling techniques weren't always the best (where the animal is concerned), but at the same time, he always made it very clear that any "aggression" shown by the animals was an attempt for that animal to protect itself. Never saw him kill that see snake, though.

I feel that his shomanship (which was done for ratings and viewers), was a means to an end. When all was said and done, his message was one of respect and conservation. If it took some antics to get that message out there, so be it. The recent shows I've seen have continued his legacy of showmanship (and yes, sensationalism at times), but have lost the message that went with it.

I.. both liked and disliked him. (well not HIM. I never met the guy)

although yes, I loved that he was trying to educate people, in a fun way, etc.

the stress he put oh most of those animals was rediculous. I guess I always worried how many of those animals were so stressed they would stop eating etc. Not sure if that would happen.. but I always wondered..

*shrugs*

I don't think you'd find that in wild animals due to the fact that once the stressor is no longer present, the animal generally goes back to normal. Anorexia in captive animals is, in many cases, due to constant stress.

You should have spoken with him just once. He had more passion for reptiles than anyone I've ever talked to. His handling seemed to be less stressful to me than most programs. Catching a snake by tailing is better in my opinion than squashing it in a set of tongs until you can see the crease. Or by pinning it and holding it behind the head tight enough to deform it's face.
His zoo has several successful breeding programs of endangered reptiles. He bought a huge tracks of land for conservation, and hand planted eucalyptis trees to reforest the area so it would be returned to how it was supposed to be.
His show was theatric, but it got people to watch, and his personality was over the top, because that was his passion.
I never heard of the sea snake incident either. Must have missed that in the many hours of watching the several different programs he did.

I truly wish i could have met him. I grew up watching him, and every time i see him on TV, or hear about him somewhere, it makes me sad. I dont think i ever felt quite as bad about a person i never actually knew.... someone that i saw only on TV. He is greatly missed by me.

His approach was not of my liking initially, but that was until I understood what he was trying to accomplish, and in all honesty I think he did (and big time!). The proof is that we are still talking about him. You could agree or disagree with him, you just couldn't ignore him.

Best

I absolutely loved him. Could he have left all of those animals alone, instead of stressing them out to put them on TV? Absolutely...and the public would be just as ignorant about them as they were before he was around.

This man's infectious enthusiasm and LOVE for the animals he worked with led countless other people around the globe to fall in love with scaley, slithery, deadly animals--animals that people only wanted to run over with a car or shoot in the head, prior to that. He shouted his respect for the natural behavior of predatory reptiles like crocodiles, even as they tried to eat him. Yes, he took risks, and the animals got upset--that was what made ordinary people WATCH. And keep watching...first to see him get killed, and then out of increasing interest, until they too loved crocodiles.

Who else has ever done a thing like that?
You can argue with his methods until the cows come home, but you can't argue with the fact that he led millions of people to love reptiles. He never told anyone to do what he did--he told them not to, and he always released those wild-found animals gently back where they had come from, to continue living out their lives.

Sensationalistic? Highly--he often put himself in harm's way, took unnecessary risks, and made things look more dangerous than they were--and people watched.
And they listened as he talked about conservation.

That's a far cry from watching some twit stick his head in a gator's mouth, and get bitten (I laughed really hard at that).

Steve was the spark who started it all. Many have followed but none will be Steve Irwin!