Steve Irwin deserved it, says Germaine Greer

[truethat]

i'm sick of people saying that he aggravated and manhandled animals in thier own environment. Have you thought that maybe if he didn't and instead went soft on them, them maybe they would try to inflict harm on him or try to fight him off?

anyway, he devoted his life to try and save certain species of animals and had even begun using newly developed methods to learn more about animals so that he and his team could further try to help endangered species.

and by filming it all he let people worldwide know about the dangers that some animals face, and who isn't going to listen to steve irwin? i'm sure he loved animals and i'm sure he always has.

see you in hell germaine.g

If that's the case then maybe he should have simply filmed them from afar and left them alone.

Listen the guy was awesome no doubt about it. Going to the circus is an awesome experience as well. Going to a Sigfried and Roy show is awesome too. All exploit animals for entertainment.

Just because you like someone doesn't change what they do.

He was an amazing person and I think people are still in shock over his death. I can't imagine what his wife must be going through.

Edited September 7, 2006 by truethat

[Raptor]

post removed.

Easy on the language, children come to this forum aswell.

Edited September 7, 2006 by Kismit

[ReviewDude]

Easy on the language, children come to this forum aswell.

Yeah... and people with minds virgin to concepts such as rude language

[Raptor]

Yeah... and people with minds virgin to concepts such as rude language

You'd be surprised.

[ReviewDude]

You'd be surprised.

I'm sure I would be. But then I'm surprised 11-year-olds know so much about stuff like giant beavers (sorry, had to add that in somewhere - chack the top of the Forum)...

[AtlantisRises]

Germaine Greer has worked so hard to distance herself from all things Australian. She is an idiot and hopefully this publicity stunt will be enough to make people stop reading her rubbish.

This article is pretty good at pointing out the fact that Greer has no idea what she is talking about.

Backlash against Greer

[girty1600]

Germaine Greer has worked so hard to distance herself from all things Australian. She is an idiot and hopefully this publicity stunt will be enough to make people stop reading her rubbish.

This article is pretty good at pointing out the fact that Greer has no idea what she is talking about.

Backlash against Greer

Thank you for posting that link.

I really liked this paragraph..

But one thing no one doubted was Irwin's passion to protect the world's wildlife from the threat of dwindling habitat. Sorry, did I say no one? Greer again: "What Irwin never seemed to understand was that animals need space. The one lesson any conservationist must labour to drive home is that habitat loss is the principal cause of species loss." Yet here's Irwin, interviewed on Australia's ABC TV network in 2003: "Easily the greatest threat to wildlife globally is the destruction and annihilation of habitat."

It goes to show you that Greer and others like her can deaminize the behavior of others while completely contradiction themselves.

I hope she gets nipped in the bum by a crock!

Edited September 8, 2006 by girty1600

[A+Certified]

ya know on the memorial show he talked about the "baby bob incident" in depth, and im really on his side.

the reason he did it was becuase you have to expose children to scary things early when they have no perception of whats scary. if he showed bob the crocs too late, he would be afraid forever. now i dont think he handled it the right way, but im on his side with the overreaction of the media, things are different in the irwin family, they're more exciting, and he was in the moment......im not sure what im getting at, lol

[girty1600]

Another related article.....

Survey: Irwin was good environmentalist

POSTED: 5:51 a.m. EDT, September 7, 2006

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- He may not have been a serious scientist but eccentric Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin, who died in a freak diving accident this week, was an extremely effective environmentalist, a survey said on Thursday.

Irwin, the 44-year-old naturalist famed for his quirky "Crocodile Hunter" documentaries, died after the serrated barb of a stingray's tail pierced his heart, prompting an outpouring of grief from fans in Australia and around the world.

But in a discordant note amid the floods of tributes, expatriate Australian academic Germaine Greer said on Wednesday she hoped his death would signal the end of what she described as exploitative nature documentaries.

"There is the problem of this hyper-masculine character interacting with nature ... but the positive results stand alone," University of New South Wales researcher Chontelle Perucich told Reuters.

The university released the results of Perucich's 2004 research on the naturalist Thursday.

The survey of 300 people found that only 8 percent regarded Irwin as a scientist, although 65 percent had a positive view of him.

Eighty percent of those who had watched his shows had a positive view.

"While experts might argue about whether Steve Irwin was a so-called savage or a savior, he had an enormously positive and influential impact on the community," Perucich said.

"Whether we agree or disagree with his provocative and up-close interactions with wildlife, research confirms that he was publicly successful," she said.

The findings were announced as Irwin's family said it had declined the offer of a state funeral and would hold a private burial, although a separate public service would also be held.

"Because of the tremendous public sympathy and support, we have decided to hold a full memorial service within the next two weeks at a suitable venue yet to be decided," Irwin's father Bob said in a statement read to reporters outside his son's Australia Zoo in tropical Queensland state.

Irwin flirted with death many times in his documentaries, seen by 200 million people around the world, as he wrestled with some of the world's most dangerous creatures in an approach different to more traditional wildlife films.

Perucich's research found that people with higher education levels such as tertiary degrees were more likely to disagree with Irwin on specific environmental issues like the culling of native kangaroos to control their numbers.

Irwin was most popular among the young, although older people were more likely to support his views on the environment, the survey showed.

Link

[frogfish]

How is he not a scientist? He's a zoologist for crying out loud!

GG should go to hell now...

[Jack_of_Blades]

p.s does anyone, by chance have her address? or her email address?

That's what i was wondering. If some one does

happen to find it send it to me. I will send her a

little surprise

If that media whore would step outside and

try to do what Steve did instead of critising

people after their dead mabe she wouldn't

be so dam ignorant. :angry2:

Edited September 14, 2006 by Jack_of_Blades

[Shivel]

The only time Irwin ever seemed less than entirely lovable to his fans (as distinct from zoologists) was when he went into the Australia Zoo crocodile enclosure with his month-old baby son in one hand and a dead chicken in the other. For a second you didn't know which one he meant to feed to the crocodile. If the crocodile had been less depressed it might have made the decision for him. As the catatonic beast obediently downed its tiny snack, Irwin walked his baby on the grass, not something that paediatricians recommend for rubbery baby legs even when there isn't a stir-crazy carnivore a few feet away. The adoring world was momentarily appalled. They called it child abuse. The whole spectacle was revolting. The crocodile would rather have been anywhere else and the chicken had had a grim life too, but that's entertainment at Australia Zoo.

This is really the only part of the article I didn't agree with, like many people.

This paragraph is the result of someone who doesn't understand crocodile psychology at all.

They sense food by smell, first of all. I'm sure the stench of a dead chicken would have been more recognizable as food than Steve's baby.

Second, they are reasonably predictable creatures, and most would rather remain passive. Irwin is an expert, it's insane to suggest that he was in any danger at all.

I'm sure these were mentioned in this thread before, so I'm sorry for the repeat.

[+Link of Hyrule]

For all interested in getting in touch with Germaine Greer, contact her agent at:

Gillon Aitken Associates Ltd

contact: Gillon Aitken, Clare Alexander

address: 29 Fernshaw Road, London SW10 0TG

email: reception@aitkenassoc.demon.co.uk

tel: 020 7351 7561

fax: 020 7376 3594

Emails are easily deletable, so I suggest a personal letter (especially for those living in the UK). LET'S BOMB SPAM HER BACK TO THE STONEAGE

Edited September 14, 2006 by Paranoid Android

[Jack_of_Blades]

For all interested in getting in touch with Germaine Greer, contact her agent at:

Gillon Aitken Associates Ltd

contact: Gillon Aitken, Clare Alexander

address: 29 Fernshaw Road, London SW10 0TG

email: reception@aitkenassoc.demon.co.uk

tel: 020 7351 7561

fax: 020 7376 3594

Emails are easily deletable, so I suggest a personal letter (especially for those living in the UK). LET'S BOMB SPAM HER BACK TO THE STONEAGE

Excelent

[Raptor]

For all interested in getting in touch with Germaine Greer, contact her agent at:

Gillon Aitken Associates Ltd

contact: Gillon Aitken, Clare Alexander

address: 29 Fernshaw Road, London SW10 0TG

email: reception@aitkenassoc.demon.co.uk

tel: 020 7351 7561

fax: 020 7376 3594

Emails are easily deletable, so I suggest a personal letter (especially for those living in the UK). LET'S BOMB SPAM HER BACK TO THE STONEAGE

Hmm...SW10, eh?

I'm very near by.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Raptor X7

[Shivel]

Hmm...SW10, eh?

I'm very near by.

Break out of the eggs and toilet paper.

That'll show her.

[frogfish]

Hmm...SW10, eh?

I'm very near by

It's time to protest!

[Jok3r]

Probably just trying to get the some attention. Attention Whore fits her perfectly. I was never a big fan of Steve but this is stupid.

[conspiracysrus]

that greer woman is a nobody in austrailia it seems,

im from u.k and to be honest you hardly see her there either.

she scratches a living on these know it all ,minor celeb talk shows giving her (expert) opinion on just about everything.

she just says outragous stuff to get noticed.

i didnt know she was austrailian but i can see her being the" all things austrailian expert" too

she needs the advertising badly!!!

Edited September 18, 2006 by conspiracysrus

[Decapitated]

Does anyone else feel that she's writting this to get attention as being the only person dumb enough to claim he deserved it?

[evancj]

I don't think you can compare what Steve did with animals to the circus. The circus does not educate us about the animals it exploits, nor do they release them after their finished with them. Steve didn’t hurt the animals, or make them perform unnatural behaviors he showed us what they looked, and felt like, and was always quick to remind us not to handle them. By the way he was not a formerly trained biologist, that doesn’t mean he didn’t know what he was talking about. Let’s not forget about all the animals that he rehabilitated and released back into the wild, that would not be possible if he and his staff did not know how to handle them.

I wouldn’t even dignify that woman’s article with a response.

RIP Steve

[the Shadamaun]

RIP Steve. Your great work for the good of the animal kingdom will not be fogotten.

That being said, regardless of how well informed you are with any potentially dangerous creature or object, you dont take some of the liberties that he took. Ask any experienced firefighter who knows fire and its behaviors if he would be confident enough to let a baby near a burning house. Ask any ballistics or firearms expert if they would hold a child in their lap as they cleaned and loaded a gun. The more informed the expert of dangerous things, the more they respect the unpredictability of their field of expertice. A smart man knows that he doesnt know everything, so i feel there could have been a better way to expose the child to reptiles without exposing it to danger.

Steve Irwin did NOT deserve to die. Nor did Roy Horn deserve to be mauled the way he was. But if you put yourself into situations like that, it isnt 100% unexpected that it would happen.

It reminds me of the old proverb: A woman on her way home finds an injured snake by the side of the road. She brought it home and nursed it back to health. When she went to release the snake, it turned around and bit her. As she lay dying, she asked "Why, after all I did for you, did you bite me?" The snake replied "Lady, you knew I was a snake when you picked me up."

[Pinky Floyd]

Does anyone else feel that she's writting this to get attention as being the only person dumb enough to claim he deserved it?

She's definitely playing the media.

[Conspiracy]

While I don't think anyone deserves such an awful death, not even Irwin, I think most people saw it coming. I think we all knew that sooner or later one such stunt of his was going to cause his demise.

I am among those who were appalled at that stunt with his baby. That croc could have gone for the child. Most parents wouldn't dream of endangering their own child. To me that was right up there with Michael Jackson dangling his infant over the balcony railing. Very sad.

I had often thought too, that you'd think that now that he was a father, with the responsibility of a child to raise and care for, he would calm down and live a less dangerous life. Quite frankly, I also used to wonder about the man's sanity.

But despite all that, his death is certainly a tragedy and very sad.

when his lil girl was younger he brought her under water with great whites also... i think they were great whites anyways, might have been a diff type of shark but they were big. But even tho he was putting his kids in danger im pretty sure he knew what he was doing, i dont think any parent is stupid enough to put that kind of danger infront of their kids without knowing what their doing... plus a lil kid crapping his pants prolly wouldnt be the best smelling food for a croc or shark

Edited September 30, 2006 by Conspiracy

[Raptor Witness]

After seeing Barbara Walters interview with is widow, I felt bad for thinking he got his due, after molesting animals on camera for years. It also appears that the stingray was under the sand, perhaps making it's size more difficult for Steve to determine, and more of a freak accident.

Nobody could be so loved, and not be a truly wonderful person. I won't miss the wrestling matches with animals, but I will miss him. God bless Steve Irwin, wherever he landed in the universe.