The media often compare the shocking news of the death of Steve Irwin with the hysteria that the tragic death of Princess Diana produced. Irvine himself, in any comparison with Diana Spencer, would probably shout out his famous “Well, well!”, But there is something in common in the way they passed away. Both the naturalist and the Princess of Wales died under absurd circumstances and became the focus of discussion for the media. As with the death of Diana, the assassination of John Lennon or John F. Kennedy, people remember where they were and what they were doing the moment they learned of Irwin's death.
Family business and first show
Steve Irwin was born in Victoria (Australia) in 1962. Since childhood, he has been catching crocodiles in the vicinity of his parents' reptile park. His father founded the park in the seventies of the last century. Since 1991, Irwin became the head of the family business, and soon created the first series of The Crocodile Hunter. The series did not want to be aired for a long time. The producers of the TV channel assured that the show was aboutanimals in which the host takes more than 20% of the time will not become popular. But "The Crocodile Hunter" was watched by viewers around the world. The program first aired in 1992. Shortly thereafter, Irwin was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for promoting Australia, his contributions to the tourism industry, and the creation of the Australia Zoo.
Private life, family
In 1992, Steve Irwin married Terry Raines. The youngest of three daughters in a business family started working at an animal rehabilitation center and later joined the emergency veterinary hospital as a technician. In 1991, she went on tour in Australia where she met her future husband. Steve and Terry Irwin were not just spouses, but like-minded people who devoted their lives to the study and protection of wildlife.
Bindi Irwin, daughter of Steve and Terry, was born in 1998. The girl began to appear on television at the age of two. She regularly participated in her father's show, and he supported his daughter's career. Today, Bindi Irwin makes films and participates in many projects of the Discovery channel. Robert Irwin, the youngest child of the couple, was born in 2003. He has filmed extensively for his own Australian children's television channel and has been involved in a television series for children's Discovery. Once during filming, the father held little Robert in one hand and a crocodile in the other. This incident caused a lot of criticism and discussion in the media. As a result, the Queensland government was forced to change its crocodile laws. The authorities have banned contact with animals for children and unprepared adults.
On the verge of death
The naturalist has repeatedly been in situations where his life was threatened by dangerous animals. He had many injuries received in contact with animals, but each time the TV presenter said that this was the result of his wrong behavior, and not aggression from the animal itself. The naturalist received his first serious injury in the early nineties when he dived on a crocodile from the bow of a boat. The crocodile was sitting on a rock that Steve Irwin hit. He shattered his shoulder to the bone. Important ligaments, muscles and tendons were cut.
In East Timor, Irwin once rescued a crocodile that was stuck in a concrete pipe. It seemed that the animal could not be pulled out. But Steve Irwin dived in. The crocodile grabbed the TV presenter with a death grip, as a result of which the same hand was badly damaged. Once a crocodile hit a naturalist on the head. From jumping on a four-meter crocodile, Irwin's shins and knees were cut. On another occasion, he had to rescue a kangaroo on the side of a highway. Despite the danger, the TV presenter continued to make programs and films.
Fatal Decision
On September 4th, 2006, a naturalist went scuba diving to film stingrays off the Great Barrier Reef. On the day of his death, the TV presenter did not shoot for himself. He filmed a cycle of programs “Deadly Animals of the Ocean”, but on his free day he went to shoot a story about stingraysfor her daughter's show "Bindi the Jungle Girl". This decision later turned out to be fatal for him. The TV presenter repeatedly descended into the water to the slopes, so he did not feel the danger. No one could have imagined that the cause of death of Steve Irwin would be a stingray strike. In general, they are extremely rarely dangerous to humans. Off the coast of the Green Continent, only two deaths of people stung by these animals were documented.
Live
One of the fish unexpectedly attacked Steve Irwin (a photo of the naturalist can be seen in the article) when the leader was over it. The stingray raised its tail with a poisonous sting and hit Irwin right in the heart area. In a few moments, he made dozens of blows. Why the animal turned out to be so aggressive, it will not be possible to find out. Cameraman Justin Lyons, who became the main witness to the tragedy, managed to videotape this death. Steve Irwin died tragically on live television. The last words of the TV presenter were heard by his friend and operator, who was waiting for medical help. In response to encouraging words of friendly support, Steve looked Justin in the eyes and said that he was dying. These words echoed in the head of a close friend of the famous naturalist for months to come.
Record of death
All or nearly all copies of the recording of Steve Irwin being killed by the stingray that were in the possession of Justin Lyons and handed over to the investigators were later destroyed. This decision was made by relatives and close people of the TV presenter. If you believehis widow, Terri Irvine, was rumored to have one copy of the tape, but the woman immediately stated that the video would never be aired.
Rescue Opportunity
Medic Gabe Mirkin, who almost immediately arrived at the scene of the tragedy, said that the TV presenter could have been saved if he had not pulled the poisonous stingray thorn out of the wound. In general, nothing is clear with this circumstance: the operator claims that Irwin did not pull the spike out of the wound, and the doctors and investigators who viewed the recording claim that the spike was removed from the body. The truth is unlikely to be established.
There were also many rumors that Steve Irwin was under the influence of alcohol that day. Physicians refute this statement. According to the results of the analyzes, no traces of alcohol consumption were found in the naturalist's blood.
The poison specialist and eminent biologist Jamie Seymour worked with the TV presenter for many years. The doctor also quickly arrived at the scene. He tried to do everything to save his friend, but quickly realized that it was almost impossible. The TV presenter died too quickly, so that death did not come from poison, but from injections. Dr. Seymour reproached himself for many years for not being able to come up with anything to save his colleague.
Shocking interview
After the news that Steve Irwin was killed, his close friend and cameraman, who was present at this tragic event, repeatedly gave interviews in which he spoke in detail about what happened. Many friends from Irwin's inner circle later stated that hetook advantage of the naturalist's death to gain popularity. Some came to the defense of Justin Lyons. The death of a friend was a shock to him, and stories about her are a way to survive grief. In no interview did Lyons say anything bad or ambiguous about the naturalist.
Hate stingrays
Australians simply adored Steve Irwin. After his death, fans began to take revenge on the animals, one of which killed the naturalist. Within a month of Irvine's tragic death, at least ten stingrays were killed off the coast of Australia. Most of them had their tails torn out. And the stingray that killed Steve Irwin is rumored to be in captivity in Australia.
Funeral presenter
The Irvine family zoo after the death of the TV presenter became a Mecca for thousands of fans who turned the entrance to it into a large flower garden. The family was inundated with messages from all over the world with words of support. Especially a lot of letters came from the USA, where the news about the death of the TV presenter became the main one for several days. The Prime Minister of Queensland offered the widow of Steve Irwin to hold a funeral at the state level. This initiative was supported by many Australians, but the family decided that such a large-scale event was not necessary. Bob Irwin, Steve's father, stated that his son would not want such honors. The private ceremony was held on September 9 at the Australian Zoo, where Steve Irwin worked. The grave is not accessible to visitors.
Criticism
Steve Irwin has been repeatedly criticized by the People for Ethic altreatment of animals". The vice-president of a public organization commented on the death of the TV presenter. He said that Irwin had died taunting a deadly animal, and made his brilliant career doing the same. Also, the head of the society compared the naturalist with the "star of a cheap TV show." The death of Steve Irwin was parodied in the animated series "South Park", which caused an extremely negative reaction from his relatives.
Related Events
After Irwin's death, the road operated by Australia Zoo was officially renamed the Steve Irwin Highway. In July 2007, the government announced the creation of a major national park in Queensland to be named after the naturalist. An asteroid discovered in 2001 was also named after him. In 2007, the Dutch Conservation Society commissioned a new expedition motorboat named after Steve Irwin. The ship sails the seas with environmental missions. The ship on which the TV presenter went on his last expedition is still in service today. Keeping the memory of Steve alive, many of the Australian Zoo's marine expeditions are carried out on this vessel.
Also named after the explorer is a turtle that Steve's father caught on a family trip. Before that, zoologists had never seen such a turtle. In 2009, a rare tropical snail was named after Steve Irwin. And Australians would even like to see their favorite TV presenter and wildlife explorer on the national currency. A petition was created in 2016. For a year, the petition has collected 23,000 votes, but the idea has not yet materialized.
