Steve Irwin dies- australia mourns

[melanie]

wow, were all in shock. if you have not heard steve died yesterday after a sting ray attack, he was filming a doco when the extrememly rare attack occured, one in a million chance. the ray is known as a black bull, a wing span of up to and often beyond 4-5 mtrs. steve was conducting normal procedure dutring the taping, this procedure offilming the rays is well known by those in the industry and considered fine, he was NOT attempting to touch or harass the animal. they are saying it was the presence of both steve and the camera man that set the ray off, usually they spirit away in a flush of sand when scared, rarely do they attack, but having them both so near it felt trapped and attacked. only 2 others have died this way in our recorded history of aus waters.

this is one of the sadest days for my beloved nation, we have lost a true character, larriken, beautiful father and amazing wildlife defender. he has raised the profile of the croc so much here they are no longer treated as vicious kilers to be slaughtered, they are now recognised as part of our eco system thanks to the efforts of steve.

for all his antics, and varying public opinions of him, he was a true blessing for the animals of this nation and the world. if you would like to support steves continuing work, donations can be made to his worldwide animal conservation program, called wildlife warriors, which can be found at he australia zoo website.

we have lost one of our greatest sons, we will never forget, or stop thanking his memory for his effort. so sad for those kids and terry.

its so sad, were all so sad. he was a true blessing for us and the animals of the world. thanks mate, well miss ya, you were a bloody great bloke and aussie, epitomising many aspects of our wonderful nature. a true blue aussie boy to the bone. so tragic...

[Byrd]

I was pretty shocked to hear this, I luv him, always have. His presence will be truly missed in the world.

At least he went doing something he enjoyed.

[Puppyluv]

I too was in shock to hear this, and upset. :sad:
But WOW mel, you must be super upset.... 6 threads on the subject!!!

[raingirl]

wow. This is so sad. I just heard. I loved watching crocodile hunter!! He did so much for crocs and promoting naturalism.

My condolences to his family.

What's is sadder is that it was all caught on film, which will likely, and unfortunately, probably be leaked to the net.

[Prin]

Yeah, there's another thread around here somewhere...

It's so sad. He might have been a goof who sometimes pushed the boundaries of safety, but in the end, he really did teach people about animals and that's what matters. I find it fitting that we all even get to learn about sting rays from how he died.

If only we all had enthusiasm for animals like that.:sad:

[rainbow]

A great man. He will be missed by many.

[joeysmama]

I just finished watching a repeat of an interview with Steve Irwin on Larry King Live. It was from 2004. He talked about making the animals real for people so that they would care about them. It made me very sad to watch.

[AliSam]

I was very upset to hear about Steve's passing as well. I have always enjoyed watching him.

[Prin]

I just saw the news story about him. Somehow, even after "knowing" from articles and written things, seeing it on the news made it more real. So sad. :sad:

I feel so sorry for his family. :sad:

[glasslass]

It was on the news when I turned on the TV this morning. How ironic that he went that way, yet he died doing what he loved. He'll be truly missed. I feel for his young family.

[PEDPA]

Ohhh Poor Steve and His Family! I heard it on the news tis morning at 8 a.m. on my way to work .... in working with the local radio stations .. i asked the Dj's to pay a quick tribute .... what a guy!

Can't think of anyone else in the world more fitting to have a zoo named after him. I saw the Larry King interview as well and he was sooooo excited to get a zoo up and running in Vegas! I hope someone does it in his name!

We'll miss him for sure!
At least we know all our buddies over the Rainbow Bridge have someone crazy to hang out with now and watch over them!

Cheers to Steve Irwin and all his love, compassion and teachings to the world!

[melanie]

update- the queensland police and coroner have viewed thefootage of his death and have cleared steve of any wrong doing and have clearly stated he uin no way was interfering with the animal.

only one copy fo the footage, the police have stated it will never be viewed by anyone and will be destroyed after his wife has given permission.... to deter morbid ppl from making $$$$ of it, good to hear....

many ppl finding it hard to tell their kids, apparently its affecting the littlies badly, he was their hero.....

[beamer]

im glad the footage will never be broadcast
steve

[joeysmama]

I'm happy that the footage will never be shown. Maybe there's some sensitivity to sorrow in this world after all. It's a very sad day, losing someone so caring and so dynamic !

[Prin]

Me too. From the reaction of the people with him at the time, you'd have to be insane to want to see it. It's better that we remember him in better more enthusiastic times.:sad:

[meb999]

I really liked him...he had a great love for animals...even the ones that everyone else hates.
I find it strange that he gets killed by a relatively harmless fish (only one other person has been killed by a stingray in like 60 years), after spending a life-time around much more deadly animals.

He'll be missed

[chico2]

Awww Mel,other than my own sadness,the first person I thought of was you.
I know how you felt about Steve,I still have a hard time believing this young man,always full of life and compassion,is gone:sad:
I only hope Teri will somehow continue in his footsteps,Steve still had so much to teach the world about the animals he loved so very much:love:
and Mel,it's not only Australia mourning,the whole world is mourning...

[rainbow]

Yes, the whole world is mourning indeed. Sure glad they're going to destroy the video.

[Toonces]

Very sad:sad: I feel so bad for his wife and kids, glad they are destroying the video