\'Crocodile Hunter\' Steve Irwin killed

[Lepidina]

There's a report that his last words were 'crocs rule'. That would be typical of him.

The man was probably in full SCUBA gear and had gotten stabbed through the heart. His last words were probably "Mmmmph...arrgghh...." (Correction, just read that he was snorkling.)

Seriously tho', while I think he did a lot for animal conservation, I never liked his programs. It seemed to me like a cheap form of entertainment instead of real education. And I never felt like he respected the animals but treated the whole thing like a game. There's just something cheap and exploitive about wrestling a crocodile or picking up poisonous snakes in the wild. You can get plenty of good close-up shots of stingrays without having to get right up next to them, esp. with the camera technology of today.

And I do NOT put his career in line with firemen, soldiers, or other "dangerous" professions. What Steve did in front of the camera was unnecessary and he choose to put himself in those situations to show off. It seemed like Steve was just tempting fate and sooner or later it was going to catch up with him.

I hope his legacy continues but I hope this serves as a wake-up call to other "croc hunters" out there. Wild animals need to be respected and given their space. They are not play toys or something you use to rack up machismo points.