The media often compares the shocking news of the death of Steve Irwin to the hysteria that the tragic death of Princess Diana produced. Irwin himself, in any comparison with, 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.
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 about animals, 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 establishment of the Australia Zoo.
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 the 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 children and unprepared adults from contacting animals.
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 suffered 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 got 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.
On September 4, 2006, a naturalist went underwater with scuba gear 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 stingrays for his 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 facts of the death of people stung by these animals were documented.
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. Cinematographer 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 many months.
All or almost all copies of the recording of how Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray, which were in the possession of Justin Lyons and handed over to the specialists who conducted the investigation, were subsequently destroyed. This decision was made by relatives and close people of the TV presenter. According to rumors, his widow, Terry Irvine, kept one copy of the tape, but the woman immediately declared that the video would never be aired.
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 looked at 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 blood of the naturalist.
For many years, a poison specialist and an outstanding biologist Jamie Seymour worked with the TV presenter. 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 never being able to come up with anything to save his colleague.
After the news that Steve Irwin was killed, he and the cameraman, who was present at this tragic event, repeatedly gave interviews in which he spoke in detail about what had happened. Many friends in Irwin's inner circle later stated that he took 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 it are a way to survive grief. In none of the interviews did Lyons say anything bad or ambiguous about the naturalist.
Australians just adored Steve Irwin. After his death, fans began to take revenge on the animals, one of which killed the naturalist. Within a month of Irwin'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.
After the death of the TV presenter, the Irwin family zoo 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.
Steve Irwin has been repeatedly criticized by the People for the Ethical Treatment 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.
After Irwin's death, the road, which is operated by Zoo Australia, 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, the organizers of many of the Australian Zoo's marine expeditions are carried out on this ship.
Also named after the explorer is a turtle that Steve's father caught during 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. During the year, the petition collected 23,000 votes, but the idea has not yet materialized.
A longtime friend of the tragically deceased actor, showman and naturalist Steve Irwin spoke about the circumstances of his death.
"There was no blood in the water, it was not very clear ... Something happened to this animal that made him buck, and Steve was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had received a blow in another place, then we would now didn't talk about the tragedy," said Peter West, the owner of the boat on which the film crew was sailing.
The operator and another member of the team pulled Irwin out of the water, put him on an inflatable boat and took him to the support vessel. Team members said that he was practically unconscious after being stung by a stingray and died during transport.
Mark Mikan, a researcher at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, says that although the spines of stingrays are covered with poisonous mucus, the main damage is still caused by ruptured blood vessels. "The spikes have very fine teeth, like arrowheads. When the stingray removes the spike from the prey, the teeth tear through the flesh. It's like being stabbed with a serrated knife," he says.
Chris Winder, a toxicologist at the University of New South Wales, says the stingray venom is very slow-acting. Wounded people are sometimes unaware that toxins are gradually killing their tissues.
In 1988, 12-year-old Jeff Zamel died a week after being pricked in the chest by a three-meter stingray. After spending two days in the hospital, he was discharged home. A few days later, Jeff got up from the table after dinner, and then just dropped dead.
"If Steve Irwin died so quickly, then it wasn't toxins," says Winder.
Mark Mikan recalled that most stingray injuries occur when people step on them while walking in shallow water. First aid usually consists of washing the wound with water to deactivate the toxin. The victim usually experiences excruciating pain.
The footage of the fatal attack has been handed over to the Queensland State Police, according to The Australian.
State Premier Peter Beatty said Irwin would be buried with state honors if his family so desired.
The Crocodile Hunter program first aired in 1992. Steve has managed to trademark his image as an intrepid and enthusiastic wildlife-studyer, and his series has been a worldwide success on the Discovery Channel.
Steve Irwin was born in the Australian state of Victoria in 1962. His father created a reptile park in Queensland in the 70s of the last century.
Since 1991, Steve Irwin continued the family business and soon created the first series of the film "Crocodile Hunter" (Crocodile Hunter), which became popular all over the world. This year Irvine was awarded for his contribution to the Australian tourism industry. The award was given to Irwin's contribution to the promotion of the Green Continent in wildlife documentaries and the creation of the Australia Zoo.
Repeatedly, Irwin was in situations where his life literally hung in the balance. He had a large number of wounds received in contact with animals.
As Steve himself said, the first time he received serious damage in the early 90s, when he dived from the bow of the boat onto a crocodile. The crocodile was sitting on a rock, which Irwin hit with his shoulder, and the stone crushed him to the bone. The bone cut through all the important muscles, ligaments and tendons.
Another time in East Timor, he was rescuing a crocodile that had fallen into a concrete pipe and there was no way to get it out. So Irvine dived in with the animal. The crocodile grabbed him with a death grip, as a result, the same hand was ripped open again, and this time the tendon was torn.
One day, Irwin was hit on the head by a crocodile he caught underwater. Then his knees and shins were cut when he rode a 4-meter crocodile. On another occasion, on his way to filming, he had to rescue a kangaroo on the side of the road. When he approached the animal, the kangaroo hit him and cut his lip in half.
The 44-year-old TV presenter, environmentalist, animal advocate and crocodile lover died Sunday in the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Steve, a crocodile hunter, was filming another documentary, this time about the underwater life of the ocean. In the water, he was attacked by a sea cat - a large stingray with a sharp poisonous spike on its tail. With this 20-cm gun, a flat triangular creature killed a journalist - a thorn pierced his heart and lung. By the time Irwin was pulled out and handed over to the arms of the paramedics who arrived by helicopter, he was already dead. Poison has nothing to do with it, Irwin died from a penetrating injury.
Police in Queensland, Australia, confirmed the naturalist's death and informed his family. Steve Irwin is survived by his wife and two children.
There are, of course, a few inconsistencies. First, stingrays do not attack people themselves. Secondly, how could a peace-loving fish, causing most of the injuries to the feet of the bathers who step on them, kill an adult large man, whom even a five-meter crocodile could not overcome? ..
Steve Irwin was one of the most popular people in Australia. He made documentaries, hosted television shows, and even starred in the feature film The Crocodile Hunter, which is utterly autobiographical and nonsensical. In it, Irwin played a crocodile conservationist who rescued vicious warm-blooded reptiles from poachers. At the same time, it turned out that the most important, fattest and most nasty crocodile, which the poachers hunted the most, swallowed a secret beacon, and would-be hunters, over whom the mad Irwin cracks vile jokes, are actually secret agents.
In addition, Irwin was the face and goodwill ambassador of the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service. He was the face of the Quarantine Matters campaign and it was the most successful ad campaign for the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service.
Irwin was loved by everyone except children's rights advocates.
He once staged a trick that pales in comparison to trying to throw a newborn son off a balcony: Irwin was feeding a live chicken to a crocodile while holding a sleeping baby Bob in his other hand. Then he laid the baby down a meter from the pond where the carnivorous reptile lived. The audience was furious, and after that, until his death (it was in January 2004), Irwin refused to apologize, arguing that there was no danger to the child, that he kept everything under control.
And in general, none of your crocodile business.
But that's not all. Irwin was once charged with violating wildlife laws while filming a documentary about life in Antarctica. He was then accused of getting too close to penguins, sea lions and whales. And interfering with the life of wild animals in Antarctica is a criminal offense that is punishable by a fine of a million and two years in prison. The investigation was terminated due to the lack of corpus delicti, although if Irwin treated penguins in the same way as with crocodiles: he jumped on them from above, forced them to open their mouths, put various parts of the body into their mouths and at the same time yelled a lot and cheerfully, then, of course, he needs to it was still then put on the bunk.
In any case, all this sheds light on what happened between him and the spiketail in the water column.
After all, stingrays themselves do not attack people and they can hit an underwater cinematographer in the heart with their tail only for reasons of self-defense. Perhaps the fish simply did not know that Irwin was a great original. “Stingrays only sting in self-defense. These are not aggressive animals, they will only strike if they feel threatened,” said Dr Brian Fry, deputy director of the Australian Poison Research Center at the University of Melbourne. Probably, the stingray considered Irwin's invasion a violation of his personal space and a mockery of the fauna.
ALL PHOTOS
The Crocodile Hunter program first aired in 1992. Steve has managed to trademark his image as an intrepid and enthusiastic animal explorer, and his series has been a worldwide success.
Reuters
The famous Australian actor, showman and one of the most active defenders of the Australian fauna, Steve Irwin, died during the filming of another film about animals, reports AP. He was 44 years old.
An Australian 'crocodile hunter' known for his live animal reporting and tricks with crocodiles and snakes has been killed by a stingray.
The incident occurred in the north of the Australian state of Queensland, near the city of Port Douglas. Steve participated in the filming of a film about the underwater world of Australia. The stingray killed the actor with a blow to the chest during one of the dives. The helicopter with doctors arrived to the victim too late, and it was not possible to save him.
According to some reports, a spike-tailed stingray pierced the actor's heart and part of his lungs with his blow, the Siberian News Agency reports.
Victoria Brims, an expert from Sydney, suggests that the animal's aggression was provoked: "I know that he was filming a documentary. I can assume that he tried to pick up the animal or got too close to it, so the animal was frightened and had to defend itself" .
In addition, Brims clarified that for most people, such an injury, for example, in the leg, does not have such serious consequences, it is equivalent to a small infection, RIA Novosti reports. Steve was wounded in the region of the heart, apparently, this could cause a reaction. The spines of the stingrays are very strong, in addition, poison is released when touched.
A similar incident already happened two years ago on the set, but at that time the victim received medical assistance on time.
The Crocodile Hunter program first aired in 1992. Steve has managed to trademark his image as an intrepid and enthusiastic wildlife-studyer, and his series has been a worldwide success on the Discovery Channel.
Steve Irwin was born in the Australian state of Victoria in 1962. His father created a reptile park in Queensland in the 70s of the last century.
Since 1991, Steve Irwin continued the family business and soon created the first series of the film "Crocodile Hunter" (Crocodile Hunter), which became popular all over the world. This year Irvine was awarded for his contribution to the Australian tourism industry. The award was given to Irwin's contribution to the promotion of the Green Continent in wildlife documentaries and the creation of the Australia Zoo.
Repeatedly, Irwin was in situations where his life literally hung in the balance. He had a large number of wounds received in contact with animals.
According to Steve Irwin, the first time he was seriously injured in the early 90s, when he dived from the bow of the boat onto a crocodile. The crocodile was sitting on a rock, which Irwin hit with his shoulder, and the stone crushed him to the bone. The bone cut through all the important muscles, ligaments and tendons.
On another occasion in East Timor, he was rescuing a crocodile that had fallen into a concrete pipe and there was no way to get it out. So Irvine dived in with the animal. The crocodile grabbed him with a death grip, as a result, the same hand was ripped open again, and this time the tendon was torn.
One day, Irwin was hit on the head by a crocodile he caught underwater. Then his knees and shins were cut when he rode a 4-meter crocodile. On another occasion, on his way to filming, he had to rescue a kangaroo on the side of the road. When he approached the animal, the kangaroo hit him and cut his lip in half.
Despite everything, Steve Irwin continued to make films. “If you can’t laugh at yourself, then you are too correct and your life is too boring,” he said.
Steve Irwin is survived by two children, Bindi Sue and Bob Clarence. His wife Terry assisted him on set.
On Monday, actor, showman and naturalist Steve Irwin spoke about the circumstances of his death.
"There was no blood in the water, it was not very clear ... Something happened to this animal that made him buck, and Steve was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had received a blow in another place, then we would now didn't talk about the tragedy," said Peter West, the owner of the boat on which the film crew was sailing.
The operator and another member of the team pulled Irwin out of the water, put him on an inflatable boat and took him to the support vessel. Team members said that he was practically unconscious after being stung by a stingray and died during transport.
Mark Mikan, a researcher at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, says that although the spines of stingrays are covered with poisonous mucus, the main damage is still caused by ruptured blood vessels. "The spikes have very fine teeth, like arrowheads. When the stingray removes the spike from the prey, the teeth tear through the flesh. It's like being stabbed with a serrated knife," he says.
Chris Winder, a toxicologist at the University of New South Wales, says the stingray venom is very slow-acting. Wounded people are sometimes unaware that toxins are gradually killing their tissues.
In 1988, 12-year-old Jeff Zamel died a week after being pricked in the chest by a three-meter stingray. After spending two days in the hospital, he was discharged home. A few days later, Jeff got up from the table after dinner, and then just dropped dead.
"If Steve Irwin died so quickly, then it wasn't toxins," says Winder.
Mark Mikan recalled that most stingray injuries occur when people step on them while walking in shallow water. First aid usually consists of washing the wound with water to deactivate the toxin. The victim usually experiences excruciating pain.
The footage of the fatal attack was handed over to the Queensland State Police, according to The Australian.
State Premier Peter Beatty said Irwin would be buried with state honors if his family so desired.
The Crocodile Hunter program first aired in 1992. Steve has managed to trademark his image as an intrepid and enthusiastic wildlife-studyer, and his series has been a worldwide success on the Discovery Channel.
Steve Irwin was born in the Australian state of Victoria in 1962. His father created a reptile park in Queensland in the 70s of the last century.
Since 1991, Steve Irwin continued the family business and soon created the first series of the film "Crocodile Hunter" (Crocodile Hunter), which became popular all over the world. This year Irvine was awarded for his contribution to the Australian tourism industry. The award was given to Irwin's contribution to the promotion of the Green Continent in wildlife documentaries and the creation of the Australia Zoo.
Repeatedly, Irwin was in situations where his life literally hung in the balance. He had a large number of wounds received in contact with animals.
As Steve himself said, the first time he received serious damage in the early 90s, when he dived from the bow of the boat onto a crocodile. The crocodile was sitting on a rock, which Irwin hit with his shoulder, and the stone crushed him to the bone. The bone cut through all the important muscles, ligaments and tendons.
On another occasion in East Timor, he was rescuing a crocodile that had fallen into a concrete pipe and there was no way to get it out. So Irvine dived in with the animal. The crocodile grabbed him with a death grip, as a result, the same hand was ripped open again, and this time the tendon was torn.
One day, Irwin was hit on the head by a crocodile he caught underwater. Then his knees and shins were cut when he rode a 4-meter crocodile. On another occasion, on his way to filming, he had to rescue a kangaroo on the side of the road. When he approached the animal, the kangaroo hit him and cut his lip in half.
Despite everything, Steve Irwin continued to make films. “If you can’t laugh at yourself, then you are too correct and your life is too boring,” he said.
Irwin is survived by two children, Bindi Sue and Bob Clarence. His wife Terry assisted him on set.
