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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin]]

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006) was an Australian naturalist, wildlife expert and television personality. He was best known for the television program The Crocodile Hunter, an unconventional wildlife documentary series broadcasted worldwide and hosted with his wife Terri.

Born to Lyn and Bob Irwin in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Irwin moved with his parents as a child to Queensland in 1970. Bob Irwin was a reptile enthusiast and when the family moved, his parents started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Irwin grew up around crocodiles and other reptiles.

Irwin became involved with the park in a number of ways, including taking part in daily animal feedings, as well as care and maintenance activities. On his sixth birthday he was given a scrub python. He began handling crocodiles at the age of 9, after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age.[1] He became a crocodile trapper, removing crocodiles from near populated areas, performing the service for free with the quid pro quo that he kept them for the park. Irwin followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a volunteer for the Queensland Government's East Coast Crocodile Management program.

Major controversy arose during a public show on 2 January 2004, when Irwin carried his infant son, Bob, in one arm while feeding a chicken carcass to a crocodile with the other hand. The infant was close to the crocodile, and comparisons were made in the press to Michael Jackson's dangling of his son outside a German hotel window. In addition, child welfare groups, animal rights groups, and many of Irwin's television viewers criticised his actions as being irresponsible and tantamount to child abuse. [1] Irwin claimed that any danger to his son was only a perceived danger and that he was in complete control of the situation, and consistently refused to apologise for his actions despite considerable public outcry both in Australia and abroad. His defenders pointed to his many decades of hands-on experience and direct interaction with crocodiles. Terri Irwin claimed that their child was in no more real danger than a child being taught to swim would be. No charges were filed (although the police did visit Irwin at his home and advised him not to repeat the incident).[21]

The incident prompted the Queensland government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.[22] In June 2004, allegations were made that he came too close to and disturbed some wildlife (namely whales, seals and penguins) while filming a documentary, Ice Breaker, in Antarctica.[23] Subsequently, the matter was closed without charges being filed.[24]

Death Example of a serrated stingray barb of the type that penetrated Steve Irwin's chest Enlarge Example of a serrated stingray barb of the type that penetrated Steve Irwin's chest

Shortly after 11:00am local time on 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while diving in Queensland's Batt Reef, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef. The events were caught on camera and the footage is now in the possession of Queensland Police.[25] Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting,[26] when, according to his friend and colleague John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a venomous barb on their tails. "He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and fisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead..."[25] In such a case, the animal responds by automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail, which is up to 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in length, upward. In this case, the motion struck Irwin's chest and pierced his heart.[25] Crewmembers aboard his boat called emergency services in the nearest city of Cairns and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later. Autopsy identified that the stingray had badly damaged both the left atrium of the heart and the left ventricle which caused a lot of stress for the heart and caused him to go into cardiac arrest [27]

The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning his death.[28] News of his death prompted a public outpouring expressing shock and loss. Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic[29] and talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief,[30] commemorating his passion and exuberance. Prime Minister John Howard, among many other politicians, expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son.��[31] Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns[32], where stunned family and friends were gathering on Monday night. His wife Terri was informed of her husband's death while on a walking tour in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania, and returned via private plane from Devonport to the Sunshine Coast with their two children.

Submitted on 09/04/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
This latest article cites details from the video tape. The sting ray certainly had reason to feel cornered, but swimming too close is a BIT different from actually poking or otherwise provoking it. The presence of the camerman may also have triggered the stingray into action. Unless direct proof of Irwin's actually poking this animal comes to light, I'm sticking to "no self-selection". Thanks for submitting!


Sheryl said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection


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