Stories don’t get much more bizarre than the death of croc hunter Steve Irwin at the tail of a stringray. Comments are pouring into Australian papers: 3,000 at current count at News.com.au, who knows how many at The Age.
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Steve Irwin has had a bigger profile in the US than down here in Australia. There, his TV shows ran in high rotation while here, no network was running them. I’d say the lack of air time for his shows here says something more about TV execs than Irwin the man or his product. It is only in recent years that he started to gain the local coverage his character, passion and achievements deserved. The best most recent interview with Irwin ran on or ABC (government owned) TV network on the Enough Rope program by Andrew Denton. Within minutes of news of his death, radio stations were swamped by callers
Steve Irwin has had a bigger profile in the US than down here in Australia. There, his TV shows ran in high rotation while here, no network was running them. I’d say the lack of air time for his shows here says something more about TV execs than Irwin the man or his product. It is only in recent years that he started to gain the local coverage his character, passion and achievements deserved. The best most recent interview with Irwin ran on or ABC (government owned) TV network on the Enough Rope program by Andrew Denton.
It is amazing how you could potentially measure someone’s fame by analyzing the impact on various internet ‘benchmarks.’ As of now, he holds the technorati top search tags 1,2 and 4, has had to have his Wikipedia article locked and his personal website is accessible infrequently. The forum on Animal Planet where fans are leaving condolences is also under high traffic stress, as are many Australian newspaper sites. The article about the tragedy is also the top viewed news story at CNN.com. Google has 1916 stories about his death. The list goes on and on… I guess what I’m trying to say is, do you think that the impact on the internet of someone’s death is something that could be compared to others as a valid way to measure fame or even just as a rough estimation of fame? Or would circumstances of death (Irwin’s was particulary strange) skew the results too much? I apologize for the macabre notion of measuring by reaction to death, but since we are discussing his popularity I thought I’d throw this out there.
well if you get on cnn about 20 times in 1 day ..people might just search
the internet for the topic / person / thing.
how many bloggers blogged about him before he died. not very many.
larry king (cnn ) re-ran his interview from 2 years ago …
the news didn’t have any fresh material of him .
there are probably a few more popular people around that take care of animals .
Not to sound a sour note about the regrettable death of that Australian harasser of unoffending wildlife, but isn’t it a tad ironic that one of our milder aggregations of atoms and suchlike should stab a brazen and loud -mouthed and overly familiar intruder in the heart?
A loveable mate to us “humans,” no doubt, but the original aboriginal must have been a major pain in the ass to those lesser’ forms pf life who caught his eye, him always intruding on their privacy, jerking them around this way and that, with commentary that would not be so humorous if you were a koala or a whirling dervish.
Could that stingray have figured, screw it, I’m going to take out this bothersome human, prevent further egregious intrusions into myspace? Just askin’, I would have..
My name is quaalude charlie ,i have to say i will realy miss this guy ,Steve Irwin , he was great to watch while i was high and drinking.it’s sad , i feel for his daughter & wife.Crikey!
Even thou i didnt know the guy it feels like i have lost a tremendous friend!! i feel for his gorgeous daughter. Its horrible how such good, family men are taken from us like that.
*Crikey* steve youll live in our hearts forever!!
Steve’s message was not just about animals, it was a message to humanity, and his death was not really an accident, it is a message from someone that wants us to pay attention
It is just too easy to sit in our air conditioned houses, watching HD TV and watching “nice†environmentalists who view animals from afar, tell us everything is OK and don’t shove extinction in our face like he did. He yelled it out! We humans need to be shocked into reality, extinction needs to be shouted in our faces, children need to be forced to pay attention and this message needs to be permanently inscribed in our brains. Steve did all he could to make us pay attention. There is simply not enough time to waste anymore in his message was loud and so very urgent that he pllaced himself in harm’s way in an effort to show us how important this problem is. He was willing to be killed over the issue. He wrestled alligators, not to entertain us, he was usually moving them to safer locations, and yes, these animals hate being moved. It is ironic he used the world Crocodile Hunter, when in reality he was a crocodile saver. But then, even 5 year olds realized what he meant. Only those that have lived in a shell or can’t see the forest from the trees would criticize that. Most conservation efforts involve capturing animals, re-releasing them, collaring them with uncomfortable devices. All in the name of conservation, and what he did for education was no different.
We are all too complacent about our environment and extinction due to habitat loss. It’s too easy to sit around watching your HD TV in your air conditioned house watching “nice†civilized environmentalist that stay far away from animals telling you how great they live, in the wilderness. What wilderness? Most of those films take place in wilderness preserves. These animals are dying every day from poachers, from habitat destruction, war and more. There is no time for “nice†shows that lie to us that we will be able to see these animals ever again. The film is all that we will have left.
When audiences are mislead like that, there is no sense of urgency or shock, they vote to build even more condominiums and vote down preserves. Now that is real harassment of animals, being run over by cars, their food sources destroyed, their livelihood taken away from them.
Steve really wrestled with the problem of conservation, and was dangerously close to the problem ironically, and placed himself in harms way to make a point, to make us pay attention.
The alligators in his zoo lived well, bathed in clean water and were better fed than millions of children around the world that are starving today due to environmental devastation and war. These crocks are not really just ambassadors for their own species, educating audiences to assure their survival. They are our own salvation. Most people don’t see the connection but if a snake or a crocodile cannot survive in today’s world, after 200 millions years on earth, there is certainly no hope for us humans is there?
So Steve Irwin was not shouting to us EXTINCTION WARNING WARNING EXTINCTION – he was warning us of our own demise unless we do something.
Some might think the Stingray got him because he was taking revenge. Those of us that think there are other forces in nature, of a higher order, might think the Stingray killed him to make the final sacrifice, so we may finally pay attention and take notice. I believe so. The proof is it was a very freakish accident, so the message is clear and if we chose to ignore the message, then we all deserve what we are going to get.
After all is said and done, it is difficult to see how the killing of a human by a stingray can be viewed as an accident. The “accident” sounds rather purposeful on the part of the stingray who. by most accounts, felt threatened by a looming presence above. Startled, like I would be if a giant auk swooped. This regrattable death is not an accident, I don’t think, but more like survival of the fittest. Or, at least, survival of the invovled stingray who, in the final analysis, if every there could be such a thing, is just as important in the scheme of things, as an amiable bloke from Down Under And,by the bye, just because Germaine Greer voices unconventional lruths about intrustions into other beings’ spaces, that’s no reason to vilifly her.
Or should there be no dissent in such an emotional matter, and we all say the seemingly right things so as not to offend humans; what the hey, the dumb animals aren’t eavesdropping. One hopes.
Crikey!!! yet another breed extinct!!! Sadly lost forever he was the finest conservationist ,campaigner come educator on endangered species and their dwindling habitats that this world has ever known. Steve your Awesome well done on an action packed and passionate life!! you little beauty!
People on here are saying how nobody cares about people who care about nature till they’re gone. Not true. You only have to look at how many fans you had over here to realise that you really were a true legend.
Few programmes have ever managed to hold me captivated to the subject of nature, as I freely admit, I’m not that kind of person, but your attitude to the animal kingdom opened my eyes mate. Everytime I saw that a programme starring you was on, I ALWAYS made sure I watched it, and as a result, I’ve learnt so much about animals and how they live.
I think, in the end, after making a living from animals in the way that you did, I think it’s the best possible way you could have been taken away from us. I would certainly hope that if I ever devote myself to anything like you devoted yourself to animals, if I have to die at some point, I hope it will be doing the thing I love the most.
Kudos to you Steve, and rest in peace, cos you bloody well deserved it!!
So see you later rather than sooner I hope, and Crikey! It’s time to go, bye for now my little beauties!!
September 4th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Steve Irwin has had a bigger profile in the US than down here in Australia. There, his TV shows ran in high rotation while here, no network was running them. I’d say the lack of air time for his shows here says something more about TV execs than Irwin the man or his product. It is only in recent years that he started to gain the local coverage his character, passion and achievements deserved. The best most recent interview with Irwin ran on or ABC (government owned) TV network on the Enough Rope program by Andrew Denton. Within minutes of news of his death, radio stations were swamped by callers
September 4th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Steve Irwin has had a bigger profile in the US than down here in Australia. There, his TV shows ran in high rotation while here, no network was running them. I’d say the lack of air time for his shows here says something more about TV execs than Irwin the man or his product. It is only in recent years that he started to gain the local coverage his character, passion and achievements deserved. The best most recent interview with Irwin ran on or ABC (government owned) TV network on the Enough Rope program by Andrew Denton.
September 4th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
we did a post on his death last night and it has lead to one of our biggest 12-hour spikes ever. his universal appeal really was amazing.
September 4th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
when is the last time the media even noticed animal planet …
how many countries did his show appear ?
there are many people on cable tv that nobody cares about until they die .
sad but true.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:26 am
He was love around the world. He was just as popular in Australia but he was a household name more than a novelty like in the US.
September 5th, 2006 at 1:31 am
It is amazing how you could potentially measure someone’s fame by analyzing the impact on various internet ‘benchmarks.’ As of now, he holds the technorati top search tags 1,2 and 4, has had to have his Wikipedia article locked and his personal website is accessible infrequently. The forum on Animal Planet where fans are leaving condolences is also under high traffic stress, as are many Australian newspaper sites. The article about the tragedy is also the top viewed news story at CNN.com. Google has 1916 stories about his death. The list goes on and on… I guess what I’m trying to say is, do you think that the impact on the internet of someone’s death is something that could be compared to others as a valid way to measure fame or even just as a rough estimation of fame? Or would circumstances of death (Irwin’s was particulary strange) skew the results too much? I apologize for the macabre notion of measuring by reaction to death, but since we are discussing his popularity I thought I’d throw this out there.
Mark
September 5th, 2006 at 5:18 am
well if you get on cnn about 20 times in 1 day ..people might just search
the internet for the topic / person / thing.
how many bloggers blogged about him before he died. not very many.
larry king (cnn ) re-ran his interview from 2 years ago …
the news didn’t have any fresh material of him .
there are probably a few more popular people around that take care of animals .
September 5th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Not to sound a sour note about the regrettable death of that Australian harasser of unoffending wildlife, but isn’t it a tad ironic that one of our milder aggregations of atoms and suchlike should stab a brazen and loud -mouthed and overly familiar intruder in the heart?
A loveable mate to us “humans,” no doubt, but the original aboriginal must have been a major pain in the ass to those lesser’ forms pf life who caught his eye, him always intruding on their privacy, jerking them around this way and that, with commentary that would not be so humorous if you were a koala or a whirling dervish.
Could that stingray have figured, screw it, I’m going to take out this bothersome human, prevent further egregious intrusions into myspace? Just askin’, I would have..
September 6th, 2006 at 4:53 am
My name is quaalude charlie ,i have to say i will realy miss this guy ,Steve Irwin , he was great to watch while i was high and drinking.it’s sad , i feel for his daughter & wife.Crikey!
September 6th, 2006 at 6:02 am
Even thou i didnt know the guy it feels like i have lost a tremendous friend!! i feel for his gorgeous daughter. Its horrible how such good, family men are taken from us like that.
*Crikey* steve youll live in our hearts forever!!
September 8th, 2006 at 2:01 am
Steve’s message was not just about animals, it was a message to humanity, and his death was not really an accident, it is a message from someone that wants us to pay attention
It is just too easy to sit in our air conditioned houses, watching HD TV and watching “nice†environmentalists who view animals from afar, tell us everything is OK and don’t shove extinction in our face like he did. He yelled it out! We humans need to be shocked into reality, extinction needs to be shouted in our faces, children need to be forced to pay attention and this message needs to be permanently inscribed in our brains. Steve did all he could to make us pay attention. There is simply not enough time to waste anymore in his message was loud and so very urgent that he pllaced himself in harm’s way in an effort to show us how important this problem is. He was willing to be killed over the issue. He wrestled alligators, not to entertain us, he was usually moving them to safer locations, and yes, these animals hate being moved. It is ironic he used the world Crocodile Hunter, when in reality he was a crocodile saver. But then, even 5 year olds realized what he meant. Only those that have lived in a shell or can’t see the forest from the trees would criticize that. Most conservation efforts involve capturing animals, re-releasing them, collaring them with uncomfortable devices. All in the name of conservation, and what he did for education was no different.
We are all too complacent about our environment and extinction due to habitat loss. It’s too easy to sit around watching your HD TV in your air conditioned house watching “nice†civilized environmentalist that stay far away from animals telling you how great they live, in the wilderness. What wilderness? Most of those films take place in wilderness preserves. These animals are dying every day from poachers, from habitat destruction, war and more. There is no time for “nice†shows that lie to us that we will be able to see these animals ever again. The film is all that we will have left.
When audiences are mislead like that, there is no sense of urgency or shock, they vote to build even more condominiums and vote down preserves. Now that is real harassment of animals, being run over by cars, their food sources destroyed, their livelihood taken away from them.
Steve really wrestled with the problem of conservation, and was dangerously close to the problem ironically, and placed himself in harms way to make a point, to make us pay attention.
The alligators in his zoo lived well, bathed in clean water and were better fed than millions of children around the world that are starving today due to environmental devastation and war. These crocks are not really just ambassadors for their own species, educating audiences to assure their survival. They are our own salvation.
Most people don’t see the connection but if a snake or a crocodile cannot survive in today’s world, after 200 millions years on earth, there is certainly no hope for us humans is there?
So Steve Irwin was not shouting to us EXTINCTION WARNING WARNING EXTINCTION – he was warning us of our own demise unless we do something.
Some might think the Stingray got him because he was taking revenge. Those of us that think there are other forces in nature, of a higher order, might think the Stingray killed him to make the final sacrifice, so we may finally pay attention and take notice. I believe so. The proof is it was a very freakish accident, so the message is clear and if we chose to ignore the message, then we all deserve what we are going to get.
September 8th, 2006 at 4:02 am
After all is said and done, it is difficult to see how the killing of a human by a stingray can be viewed as an accident. The “accident” sounds rather purposeful on the part of the stingray who. by most accounts, felt threatened by a looming presence above. Startled, like I would be if a giant auk swooped. This regrattable death is not an accident, I don’t think, but more like survival of the fittest. Or, at least, survival of the invovled stingray who, in the final analysis, if every there could be such a thing, is just as important in the scheme of things, as an amiable bloke from Down Under And,by the bye, just because Germaine Greer voices unconventional lruths about intrustions into other beings’ spaces, that’s no reason to vilifly her.
Or should there be no dissent in such an emotional matter, and we all say the seemingly right things so as not to offend humans; what the hey, the dumb animals aren’t eavesdropping. One hopes.
September 10th, 2006 at 5:52 am
Crikey!!! yet another breed extinct!!! Sadly lost forever he was the finest conservationist ,campaigner come educator on endangered species and their dwindling habitats that this world has ever known. Steve your Awesome well done on an action packed and passionate life!! you little beauty!
September 13th, 2006 at 8:11 am
Goodbye Steve my friend.
People on here are saying how nobody cares about people who care about nature till they’re gone. Not true. You only have to look at how many fans you had over here to realise that you really were a true legend.
Few programmes have ever managed to hold me captivated to the subject of nature, as I freely admit, I’m not that kind of person, but your attitude to the animal kingdom opened my eyes mate. Everytime I saw that a programme starring you was on, I ALWAYS made sure I watched it, and as a result, I’ve learnt so much about animals and how they live.
I think, in the end, after making a living from animals in the way that you did, I think it’s the best possible way you could have been taken away from us. I would certainly hope that if I ever devote myself to anything like you devoted yourself to animals, if I have to die at some point, I hope it will be doing the thing I love the most.
Kudos to you Steve, and rest in peace, cos you bloody well deserved it!!
So see you later rather than sooner I hope, and Crikey! It’s time to go, bye for now my little beauties!!
STOKESY