Animal Planet, one of my all time favorite channels, has taught me so many things about animals that no text books or magazines will ever do. I learnt so much about wildlife, like how chameleons can move their eyes in opposite directions at the same time, that crocodiles cannot stick their tongues out, that a baby wildebeest learn how to walk and run within a couple of minutes from birth, the lifestyle of a komodo dragon with its bacteria infested mouth, that kangaroos can jump over 30 feet, which snakes are venomous and which are not, what to do when bitten by a snake, or when surrounded by a pack of hungry hyenas, that when a Python or Boa start coiling around you, you must first protect your chest and make sure they don’t get to that part, that a snail can sleep for 3 years, and (the ladies will love this one) that lipsticks are made from slimy stinky fish scales!
My favorite documentaries from Animal Planet are “The Crocodile Hunter Diaries”, “The Croc Files” and “New Breed Vets”, all featuring the legendary Steve Irwin.
Today, I got an sms from a friend “Dude, Steve Irwin passed away. The Crocodile man. Check news channel”. Damn! I ran downstairs immediately to the Cyber Café (We have only National news channels on TV here. No BBC, no CNN
) where my worst fear was confirmed. The Queensland Police released this official statement about his sad demise.
According to news report, Steve Irwin was stung by a Stingray while filming an underwater documentary in the Great Barrier Reef off the Low Isles near Port Douglas, north of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was reported that he was stung either through his heart or through the left side of his chest, causing a fatal wound.
Man, I really am going to miss him. How can anyone ever forget his “crikey” exclamations? To those who are not fascinated about Mother Nature and the surrounding Wildlife, they might not even know him. But to someone like me, it is indeed a sad loss.
It is because of Steve Irwin that a guy like me can now identify how an Australian accent sounds like. He was the first Australian celebrity I came to know of, long before learning about John Howard in our GK text books or watching Luc Longley play basketball for the Chicago Bulls during the days of Jordan.
Steve Irwin is no stranger to controversies. I still remember that incident a couple of years ago when he came under fire for feeding a Croc while holding his baby-son in the other hand. Although I agree he shouldn’t have endangered the baby’s life like that no matter how experienced he was among the Crocs, I found it utterly ridiculous that people compared that incident to MJ’s baby-dangling incident. Those two incidents are on two completely different levels of irresponsibility. Anyway, thankfully, good ’ol Steve never repeated that again.
He has appeared in Dr.Dolittle2 as himself. He is probably the most popular face in Animal TV. You should watch “New Breed Vets”. My sis and I usually spend our lazy Sunday afternoons watching that show. The show deals with how people (usually zoo officials) take care of animals like chimps, tigers etc who have problems. I’m sure “Irwinites” all over the World must be taking this tragedy very hard. My utmost condolences to you all.
Rest in Peace, Steve. You have risked your life time and again just to entertain and educate us. Maybe we, the barbaric spectators around the bloody Arena, are to be blamed too for encouraging you to put yourself in the jaws of danger for the umpteenth time, but then, with a passion like yours, who can stop you? Just like how Jackie Chan would never stop doing those life threatening crazy stunts because we find it entertaining, neither would you. You play with fire, you get burnt. I raise my glass to you Steve. You will always be remembered, and your legacy passed on forever.
My favorite documentaries from Animal Planet are “The Crocodile Hunter Diaries”, “The Croc Files” and “New Breed Vets”, all featuring the legendary Steve Irwin.
Today, I got an sms from a friend “Dude, Steve Irwin passed away. The Crocodile man. Check news channel”. Damn! I ran downstairs immediately to the Cyber Café (We have only National news channels on TV here. No BBC, no CNN
) where my worst fear was confirmed. The Queensland Police released this official statement about his sad demise.According to news report, Steve Irwin was stung by a Stingray while filming an underwater documentary in the Great Barrier Reef off the Low Isles near Port Douglas, north of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was reported that he was stung either through his heart or through the left side of his chest, causing a fatal wound.
Man, I really am going to miss him. How can anyone ever forget his “crikey” exclamations? To those who are not fascinated about Mother Nature and the surrounding Wildlife, they might not even know him. But to someone like me, it is indeed a sad loss.
It is because of Steve Irwin that a guy like me can now identify how an Australian accent sounds like. He was the first Australian celebrity I came to know of, long before learning about John Howard in our GK text books or watching Luc Longley play basketball for the Chicago Bulls during the days of Jordan.
Steve Irwin is no stranger to controversies. I still remember that incident a couple of years ago when he came under fire for feeding a Croc while holding his baby-son in the other hand. Although I agree he shouldn’t have endangered the baby’s life like that no matter how experienced he was among the Crocs, I found it utterly ridiculous that people compared that incident to MJ’s baby-dangling incident. Those two incidents are on two completely different levels of irresponsibility. Anyway, thankfully, good ’ol Steve never repeated that again.
He has appeared in Dr.Dolittle2 as himself. He is probably the most popular face in Animal TV. You should watch “New Breed Vets”. My sis and I usually spend our lazy Sunday afternoons watching that show. The show deals with how people (usually zoo officials) take care of animals like chimps, tigers etc who have problems. I’m sure “Irwinites” all over the World must be taking this tragedy very hard. My utmost condolences to you all.
Rest in Peace, Steve. You have risked your life time and again just to entertain and educate us. Maybe we, the barbaric spectators around the bloody Arena, are to be blamed too for encouraging you to put yourself in the jaws of danger for the umpteenth time, but then, with a passion like yours, who can stop you? Just like how Jackie Chan would never stop doing those life threatening crazy stunts because we find it entertaining, neither would you. You play with fire, you get burnt. I raise my glass to you Steve. You will always be remembered, and your legacy passed on forever.
