Tragedy Down Under
My Steve Irwin moment was very tame compared to the death-defying exploits of Australia's Crocodile Hunter.
But crossing a swaying foot bridge over the Grumeti River in Serengeti National Park and patrolling the banks looking for big crocs with my sons and our guide definitely was an adventure I'll always remember.
Naturally, when we spotted one we could almost hear Irwin exclaiming, "Crikey, she's a beaut!"
I mean, who can see a crocodile without thinking of Steve Irwin?
Sadly, his enthusiasm for dangerous encounters with wild creatures finally killed him. I suppose he'd been pushing his luck for years, or that he had to live up to his reputation for daring, but I sure wish he'd been more careful.
Irwin followed in the footsteps of earlier TV wildlife adventurers, like "Wild Kingdom's" Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler. But he really notched it up. He was manic, exuberant, entertaining and darn good at expressing his passion for all kinds of strange and frightening animals.
He's gone too soon, but crikey, who can ever forget him?
Comments (2)
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Weirdly, the incident that killed him was a freak accident, not a particularly high-risk maneuver. Sure, stingray stings are painful and dangerous, but they're also easily avoided and they're almost never fatal. The barbed stinger on the ray's tail had to hit him precisely in the heart to kill him -- and so, apparently, it did.
Posted on September 4, 2006 3:29 PM
Definitely a rare and freak accident. Those things do have a nasty looking barb, however, and they have them for a purpose -- to defend themselves against threats. Approaching a creature that's equipped with that kind of a weapon obviously is risky. And I imagine a strike in the lung, neck, head or kidneys also could have fatal consequences.
I've been a big fan of Irwin, but looking at some clips on the news this afternoon reinforces my impression that he was frequently reckless. Maybe that's what you have to do to build the audience he had -- and to impart some wildlife education to viewers while you're entertaining them.
Posted on September 4, 2006 6:57 PM