Great White Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin Dead
by Charles Coughlin
The heroic animal expert and conservationist Steve Irwin has been killed at the young age of 44. An Australian news source reports “Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has been killed in a stingray attack near Cairns on Australia’s far north coast. It was believed Irwin had been swimming off the coast of Cairns when he was stung. ‘It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest,’ Brisbane’s Courier Mail reported this afternoon. Irwin was best known for his documentary series ‘The Crocodile Hunter’. He was born in Victoria and found his love of animals after following in his father’s footsteps, volunteering his services to the Queensland Government’s East Coast Crocodile Management program. He spent years living on his own in the mosquito infested creeks, rivers and mangroves of North Queensland, catching huge crocodiles single-handed.”
Steve Irwin lived his whole life working with dangerous animals. It’s a bit ironic that he was killed by a Stingray, which is considered not especially aggressive. Most victims of Stingrays are stung in the foot when they step on the creatures, but Irwin was struck in the chest, which has proven fatal for other unlucky swimmers in the past. Mr. Irwin leaves behind two young children and his wife, who appeared in many of his Crocodile Hunter episodes.
Irwin featured snakes, spiders, crocodiles and a wide variety of other unusual and frequently dangerous animals on his animal documentary show, The Crocodile Hunter. His lightning reflexes saved him from poisonous snakes time and again. Some of his shows featured the rescue and rehabilitation of injured animals.
Our modern world is increasingly filled with people who are neither brave nor even physically fit. Irwin had no obvious political orientation aside from his pro-conservation advocacy, but it is heartening to see there are still brave individuals willing to take risks. If a political revolution ever takes place that cleans out the evil, corrupt politicians who rule us today, it will be done by the bravest people in our society, who were willing to take extreme risks. It’s a pity Mr. Irwin never took an interest in politics. He might have helped fight the evil forces who control Australia or the US. His ability to grab a venomous snake may have proved especially useful in dealing with the neocons.