\'Crocodile Hunter\' Steve Irwin killed

[Theodosius the Great]

They are not play toys or something you use to rack up machismo points.

It's better than racking up "metro" points :lol:

And I do NOT put his career in line with firemen, soldiers, or other "dangerous" professions.

He was an ex-soldier. No doubt this steeled him to perform all those stunts.

Theo

[Lepidina]

Anyone who goes in front of the camera regularly is a showoff, and that includes reporters. Do you think TV reporters who go into a war zone are like Steve?

To some extent, yes. There is a need to share the news but do we need up to the minute reports from the front lines? Um...probably not. I was unemployed when the Iraq war first started back in March 2003 and was up most nights watching the news from the embedded reporters. Most had absolutely nothing to report other than they were moving, it was sandy and hot, and they could come under fire at any moment. This went on for hours. The ones that were in hot zones either couldn't report because it wasn't safe or it would disclose their location. Again, kind of useless.

Reporters that report out on the beach during a hurricane are also in this camp. Dude, we get that it's really windy and rainy and that sane people shouldn't be out in that kind of weather. And every news org in the US will be out there as well like we've never been hit by a hurricane before.

[Tarbicus]

Fair enough. Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

Now tell me you don't secretly hope for a flying part of tree to whack the weather reporter during that hurricane :wink:

[Lepidina]

Now tell me you don't secretly hope for a flying part of tree to whack the weather reporter during that hurricane

Oh yeah!! I cheer for the hurricane every time.

[Magnus]

Interesting points of view here. Some of you are far to one side, others in between. I think it's important to realize though that he died for something he believed in, and enjoyed doing. It was his life's work. I don't think that our opinions of him, whether you agreed with his choice of careers given his family, or considered him to be simply entertainment (good or bad), should be negative in light of this.

Accidents happen. Whether or not you take all the safety precautions in the world, you can still die. You can die in your home by forgetting to turn the stove off before you go to bed.

Steve of all people understood the risks of doing what he did, but was also a lot better equiped than most of us can fathom to deal with it. And that in principle, is no different than a policeman, or a doctor, or a soldier. Because his job has risks, it doesn't mean that he should live his life in a bunker somewhere, nor should he change his career because he has children. His job was as much a part of his life as anything else was, and that's ok.

In my opinion, he did well. To poke holes in the man's honor or integrity because you don't like his antics or agree with his choice of careers after he started a family is a little bit fickle.

[Comerus Gallus]

A more terrible thing is, right now on the News sed that his Death was caught on tape.... Hope non of his family have to watch it, his dead body give more testimony of that tragedy.

[Dan Diffendale]

maybe this could have been prevented if he'd been wearing his croc armor...

[Caius Fabius]

It makes you think, but don't stop living, or you are dead already!

Did Sigfred and Roy really have children?

Are Steve's kids any worse off than the kids of the Canadian, British, United States, Italian, Polish soldiers killed in the past few weeks?

As I was feeding my longhorns today, I was in the middle of the herd, looking at one who was bleeding from a horn stab, when two others started fighting, with me in the range of one's backswing of large horns.... I managed to not get my skin broken, but just a bruise, but for a second, I was thinking, damn, I wish I had a video of this, if I am going to die here!

:lol:

Every time you work with some animals, you step into harm's way. Every time you go swiming, diving, mountain climbing, skydiving, or even walking to work, you step into a chance of sudden death or injury, out of your control, whether in the Twin Towers or a unnamed Dutch city, or a cow pasture, or the streets of Bagdad... No one gets out of this life alive.

No parents live forever. Make your preparations, rewwrite your will and testament, get yourself right with whatever Higher Powers you choose to believe in, and then go ahead and live life to the fullest! If you are lucky and single, max out your credit cards and hope to die young and leave a good looking corpse! If you are a Roman, the only reason for your life is to bring honor and glory to your gens and family!

Be well, live well, die suddenly! hock:

[Thiudareiks Flavius]

As for semantics, I never heard of Bob Brown. In fact I can't name any environmentalists, though I follow the news daily.

Bob Brown is an Australian Senator who got his political start leading the campaign to stop the building of a hydro-electric dam on the Franklin River in the south-west wilderness area of Tasmania. He argued that not only would preventing the flooding of the Frankling and Gordon valleys save one of the natural wonders of the world in the heart of one of the last major tracts of untouched wilderness on Earth (which is also the home of several unique and endangered species) but it would also create more wealth through eco-tourism than the handful of jobs the dam would have provided.

He was proved right. The towns in that area were dying economically. Now they are booming.

I think Steve Irwin did infinitely more practical good for raising awareness of the intrinsic value of wildlife than any politician or environmental lobbyist.

And full credit for him for that. The paradox I was pointing out was that, while he was doing this, he was also supporting certain political leaders whose policies are directly responsible for the habitat destruction that led to him having to preserve that endangered wildlife in the first place.

You have to experience and know something to appreciate it, value it and want to save it. Someone can lecture me all day long that the Great Barrier Reef is worth preserving, but until I experience its beauty for myself, I won't necessarily believe. Steve didn't just tell us, he showed us -- and he brought millions of otherwise ignorant people to places worth saving, like the outback and the GBR.

So it will be ironic if the Great Barrier Reef dies by 2050 as a result of coral bleaching caused by Global Warming. Just last week it was revealed that Prime Minister John Howard - who Steve Irwin enthusiastically declared 'the best Prime Minister Australia has ever had' - deliberately suppressed a government commissioned report on the potential impact of climate change because it didn't suit his cosy relationship with the coal mining industry. 'Crikey!'

[Tib. Gabinius]

I was soldier also, but i would never compare that work with what the crocodil hunter did.
Soldiers do everything they can to avoid situations, where they can be killed. Sure, they have to learn and work on weapons, and they have to go into war zones or other situations, but they would never run through the gunfire, hugh an enemy and declare to a camera what a beautifull example of a ding culture we see there... Ok, some would do something like that, but they would be seen as completly mad.

And most people change their way of driving if the transport their children and family, often sign it outside their car.

And yes, all people will die some day. Not an excusion to throw the live away, also good will to save the nature is not an excusion, cause there are much more sensefull ways, like Tim showed...

So i still think, its sad, cause he seemed to be a nice and gentle men with a great sense of humor and a great heart.
But its quite more sad for the family he leaved, and especially for the children, who will ask when dad will come home for the next month and miss him for the rest of their live and special moments father normally participate.
A family is a responsibility, which should not, like here ironically told, took the parent out of normal life and the daily risks, but it should get you to take one more view around the corner before driving, stop playing russian roulett, kissing deadly snakes or at least feed crocodils with the son on the arm...

[Tarbicus]

Everyone dies. Top 10 most dangerous jobs:

10: Driving a taxi/chauffering; Don't pick up strangers. Oh, hang on...

9: Truck driving; Wakey wakey! And watch out for the slick roads.

8: Electrical power installation; Let's use gas instead (what's that smell?)

7: Roofing; More bungalows and single-storey buildings while wearing fireproof gear.

6: Farmers and ranchers; Sell those tractors and animals, we're eating fish only.

5: Refuse and recyclable material collectors; Landfills in the backyards.

4: Structural iron and steel workers; Ferries not bridges, and we're back to single storey buildings.

3: Fishers and related workers; Well, we lost other meat and veg from the menu, and fish is off the menu now.

2: Aircraft pilots and flight engineers; I just thought, we can all take the bus (I don't know how it is where you are, but I've seen an attempted stabbing and once ended up in hospital because of the driver on a rainy day. I feel like I'm about to put my head in a croc's mouth when I'm at a bus stop)

1: Logging workers; Paper's gone, metal or plastic tables are in (or the floor), your house is a metal-framed bungalow.

Of course, all of these jobs could be done by single people with no kids, but then we have another problem - possible extinction. The above jobs also become even more dangerous because there are very few left to train the newbies.

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

His last words were probably "Mmmmph...arrgghh...."

highly likely but "Crocs Rule" is more fitting for him. Funny how people always want a last word or something. Even in our national history this is the case: when our patris patria William the Silent was shot dead, later historians invented whole speeches as his last words. The official statement today is that his last words were "Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, ayez pitié de moi et de ton pauvre peuple" (My Lord, My Lord, have pity on me and your poor people). But as he was shot from up close with 2 bullet through his heart he probably was dead instantly.


I also heard that they want to start a funds for protection of crocs and are going to name it "The Crikey Funds"

[Praefectusclassis]

But as he was shot from up close with 2 bullet through his heart he probably was dead instantly.

IIRC (from a paper I wrote a long, long time ago) he did survive for a bit and they took him upstairs again, where he then died. Embellishment? Maybe.

[Magnus]

Tobias said: "I was soldier also, but i would never compare that work with what the crocodil hunter did.
Soldiers do everything they can to avoid situations, where they can be killed."

The second you wear the uniform of a soldier, you understand that you will likely be put into harm's way. That's part of the job a soldier undertakes. Like soldiers, Steve did a job that was full of many dangers, but I don't think he deliberately put himself in what he, as a trained professional, considered too high of a risk. The same thing happens to soldiers that are ambushed, or their APC hits a land mine. They don't knowingly try and hit landmines, but accidents happen. That goes with the job.

And most of those soldiers have families. These are families who marry their husbands or wives knowing they may not come back from their jobs. That's the unfortunate burden that they carry, and it's no different than Steve's family. The principles are exactly the same, just under different circumstances. It's not fair to say that one family or person had any less of a burden than another.

[M.ilionario]

Here is a SECRET!
If you take chances and risks, eventually YOU will die.
If you stay home safe, eventually YOU will die.

It's not whether or not you will die, because you will, everyone, but it is how you use your life, that really matters. I suspect that he was as satisfied as he would ever be!

At last someone reasonable! hock: