steve irwin one of the worlds greatest wildlife warriors

[wolfman200789]

some info on my wildlife hero and my insparation to make a difference


Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006), known simply as Steve Irwin and nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist.

Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. Together, the couple also co-owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents in Beerwah, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the Queensland state capital city of Brisbane.

Irwin died on 4 September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Since her husband's death, Terri Irwin has continued to operate Australia Zoo and raise their two children. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship MY Steve Irwin was named in his honour.

Irwin was born on his mother's birthday to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria.He moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1970, where he attended Landsborough State School and Caloundra State High School. Irwin described his father as a wildlife expert interested in herpetology, while his mother Lyn was a wildlife rehabilitator. After moving to Queensland, Bob and Lyn Irwin started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles.

Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in daily animal feeding, as well as care and maintenance activities. On his sixth birthday he was given a 12-foot scrub python. He began handling crocodiles at the age of nine after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age. Also at age nine he wrestled his first crocodile, again under his father's supervision. He worked as a volunteer for Queensland's East Coast Crocodile Management program and captured over 100 crocodiles, some of which were relocated, while others were housed at the family park. Irwin took over the management of the park in 1991 and renamed it Australia Zoo in 1992

News of Irwin's death prompted reactions around the world. Then Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son."[89] Queensland Premier Peter Beattie commented in a Channel Seven television interview that Irwin would "be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great Australian".[90] The Australian federal parliament opened on 5 September 2006 with condolence speeches by both the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley. Flags at the Sydney Harbour Bridge were lowered to half mast in honour of Irwin.[91]

Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic, and for the first time, the "top ten" list of most-viewed stories for Fairfax Digital news sites was swept by a single topic.[92] Talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief.[93] The television interview show Enough Rope re-broadcast a 2003 interview between Irwin and Andrew Denton on the evening of his death. The Seven Network aired a television memorial show as a tribute to Irwin on 5 September 2006,[94] as did the Nine Network on 6 September.

The U.S. feed of the Animal Planet cable television channel aired a special tribute to Irwin that started on Monday, 4 September. The tribute continued with the Animal Planet channel showing highlights of Irwin's more than 200 appearances on Discovery Network's shows.[95] CNN showed a repeat of his 2004 interview on Larry King Live. Late-night talk show host Jay Leno—on whose show Irwin had appeared more than ten times—delivered a tribute describing Irwin as a great ambassador of Australia.[96] There were also tributes on Live with Regis & Kelly and Barbara Walters' The View.[96]

Hundreds of people visited Australia Zoo to pay tribute to the deceased entertainer and conservationist. The day after his death, the volume of people coming to pay their respects affected traffic so much that police reduced the speed limit near the zoo and told motorists to expect delays.[97] BBC reported on 13 September that thousands of fans had been to Australia Zoo since Irwin's death, bringing flowers, candles, stuffed animals and messages of support.[98] In the weeks after his death, Irwin's conservation foundation, Wildlife Warriors, reported that thousands of people from around the world were offering their support via donations to the conservation group.

Dan Mathews, vice-president of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said it was "no shock at all that Steve Irwin should die provoking a dangerous animal." He added that "Irwin made his career out of antagonising frightened wild animals, that's a very dangerous message to send to children." He also made a comparison with another well known conservationist: "If you compare [Irwin] with a responsible conservationist like Jacques Cousteau, he looks like a cheap reality TV star."[99][100] The son of Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel Cousteau—also a producer of wildlife documentaries—took issue as well with Irwin's hands-on approach to nature television, saying, "You don't touch nature, you just look at it." Cousteau went on to say that although Irwin's approach "goes very well on television", it would "interfere with nature, jump on animals, grab them, hold them, and have this very, very spectacular, dramatic way of presenting things" which he felt was "very misleading". Jacques Cousteau's grandson and Jean-Michel's nephew, Philippe Cousteau Jr., however, was working with Irwin on the "Ocean's Deadliest" documentary at the time of the accident and later described him as "a remarkable individual." Describing their project, he said, "I think why Steve was so excited about it that we were looking at these animals that people think of as, you know, dangerous and deadly monsters, and they're not. They all have an important place in the environment and in the world. And that was what his whole message was about."
Fatalities due to stingrays are infrequent and occurrences are not consistently collated,[103] while there have been several others in Australia. Irwin's death is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray ever captured on film.[104] In the weeks following Irwin's death, at least ten stingrays were found dead and mutilated, with their tails cut off, on the beaches of Queensland, prompting speculation that they had been killed by fans of Irwin as an act of revenge. Michael Hornby, a friend of the late naturalist and executive director of Irwin's Wildlife Warrior fund, condemned any revenge killings. "We just want to make it very clear that we will not accept and not stand for anyone who's taken a form of retribution. That's the last thing Steve would want

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin

I think he was a great man he inspired me to try to make a difference in this world my lifes goal is to become more like him but it seems i have a long way to go i just thought people should know of who this man is and what he did to help animals next in line is me so in a few years mabe youll see me on the news or somehting talking about this my whole life will belong to animals

[wolfyattitude]

When I was little I watched his show all the time, and when he died, I was shocked.

[SolitaryHowl]

He was a great man, and it was unfortunate about his death. I loved his show and how he taught people everywhere about animals and conservation.

[Alpha Female]

Ah yes, Steve Erwin. =3
I use to be a huge fan, I owned all his movies and watched every one of his episodes for his shows. It was heartbreaking hearing about his death, but I'm glad his movies and TV show is still on. He was definitely a great guy. ^^

[Masika]

Ah, Steve, he was indeed a great man.

I used to watch his show whenever possible, I always enjoyed watching it, since it always taught something new, at least. I was greatly shocked when I heard about his death, but nevertheless, the guy made a great difference, by teaching various people about animals, etc.

[paperpaws]

I always really liked his shows and was quite shocked to hear about his death. He has definetly left his mark on the world, and is a very inspirational person.

[Sambhur]

Ahh, I have always admired Steve, I looked up to him as my hero. |D

I got the book of his biography "My Steve" by Terri Irwin a couple of years ago and have practically absorbed all the information from it ^^

[wolfluver86]

I used to watch his show on Animal Planet a lot. I also have a Wiggles movie with him in it. When I heard he died, I was very sad.
Didn't he get killed by a stingray or something?

[wolfman200789]

I used to watch his show on Animal Planet a lot. I also have a Wiggles movie with him in it. When I heard he died, I was very sad.
Didn't he get killed by a stingray or something?

Yes he got stung in the heart by a stingray. I hear it actually went into his heart! Steve always knew there were some risks. But touching the hearts of this many people and helping animals... If i were him and have a full feeling in my soul right now. But his work is not finished. There are many more conservation efferts that need to be done. Thats why i plan to help steve in the future. My life will be dovoted to animals. He actually helped inspire me. im off to a start. My family and i rescued a baby house sparrow summer 2009. All though he is unable to be released. In the future if posible i would release things like this. A starling once got traped in our attic we made sure it got outside unharmed.

[paperpaws]

Your life goal sounds great, wolfman, I really hope you can live up to that. I'm sure you're going to make a change!

It's very unfortunate that such a skilled man that knew what he was doing, was killed by such bad luck... Stingray stings aren't very lethal when for example in the leg, aren't they? But the heart...

[Quivira]

I remembered when I was about five, I wanted to work at the zoo he worked at alongside him. I looked up to when I was really young also, and when my mom told me he died that one day, I was, like, really shocked. It was a really sad day, though, to be truthful, I always thought he would die from something else, like a killing bite from a crocodile.

[Ffeion]

^^ I loved watching his show,
I was really sad when he died, I loved his goal and how he put his life on the line to show off the beauty of animals big and small.

[wolfteritory]

I feel sorry for terri and his kids I can't imagine how they felt.
(next comment was amistake so I edited this one)

EDIT: I'll miss you steve..... We'll all miss you for you have shown that predators kill for life and prey give that life in what we call the circle of life.Bye steve

[Masika]

I'll miss you steve..... We'll all miss you for you have shown that predators kill for life and prey give that life in what we call the circle of life.Bye steve :cry:

wolfteritory, in future, please ensure that you use the edit button to add additional things onto your post, rather than double posting. Cheers!

[April]

I loved this guy, used to watch his tv shows all the time. He's definitely the bravest of the bunch. Has a real gift with animals too. I was really sad when he died though, it was almost like.,..impossible. The Great Crocodile Hunter actually got beat by teh animals he loved so much? It seemed like too much. I was so sad :/

Though I do find it ironic how life/nature works sometimes. He'd been bitten by poisonous snakes and jellyfish and such so many times and came out of it alive, yet he died by an ACCIDENT of a sting ray, it hadn't even tried to attack him, he died on an accident. It's just so ironic....