WHAT A CROC!

On 9/4, I shared a ride to the Sacramento airport with Lance Bass's "husband" Reichen Lemkuhl and TRL's Tyler after we'd all appeared at their gay pride festivities the day before. Both were upset over the death of The Crocodile Hunter. Crikey! I had no clue who Steve Irwin was until he died. I guessed he was sort of a poor man's Crocodile Dundee. From all of the footage which aired for a week after his fatal freak accident, he was extremely annoying, though I guess, to his credit, he advocated wildlife and nature preservation. But seeing him joust with a crocodile holding his newborn baby in one hand? And we called Michael Jackson a freak for dangling his brat off of a German balcony? At least MJ wasn't dangling his brat into the jaws of a huge reptile he was aggravating at the time! I can't believe that a crocodile, alligator or anything that looks remotely like one is going to be my friend. Maybe if I'd watch Steve's shows I'd have a greater understanding and come to love large, snapping monsters. But honey, I'd prefer not to acquaint myself with anything that beastly. (Chi Chi LaRue excluded.) I'm sorry the guy died and I don't think he was "asking for it" or it was the animal kingdom avenging itself against Steve, but I was interested to see a viewpoint which differed from the praise of 8 year olds from his fellow countrywoman Germaine Greer. Apparently, she was not a fan. An excerpt from Germaine's article on him in THE GUARDIAN:



"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.

Irwin's response to the sudden outburst of criticism was bizarre. He believed that he had the crocodile under control. But he could have fallen over, suggested an interviewer. He admitted that was possible, but only if a meteor had hit the earth and caused an earthquake of 6.6 on the Richter scale. That sort of self-delusion is what it takes to be a "real Aussie larrikin".

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. There was no habitat, no matter how fragile or finely balanced, that Irwin hesitated to barge into, trumpeting his wonder and amazement to the skies. There was not an animal he was not prepared to manhandle. Every creature he brandished at the camera was in distress. Every snake badgered by Irwin was at a huge disadvantage, with only a single possible reaction to its terrifying situation, which was to strike. Easy enough to avoid, if you know what's coming. Even my cat knew that much. Those of us who live with snakes, as I do with no fewer than 12 front-fanged venomous snake species in my bit of Queensland rainforest, know that they will get out of our way if we leave them a choice. Some snakes are described as aggressive, but, if you're a snake, unprovoked aggression doesn't make sense. Snakes on a plane only want to get off. But Irwin was an entertainer, a 21st-century version of a lion-tamer, with crocodiles instead of lions.

In 2004, Irwin was accused of illegally encroaching on the space of penguins, seals and humpback whales in Antarctica, where he was filming a documentary called Ice Breaker. An investigation by the Australian Environmental Department resulted in no action being taken, which is not surprising seeing that John Howard, the prime minister, made sure that Irwin was one of the guests invited to a "gala barbecue" for George Bush a few months before. Howard is now Irwin's chief mourner, which is only fair, seeing that Irwin announced that Howard is the greatest leader the world has ever seen.

The animal world has finally taken its revenge on Irwin, but probably not before a whole generation of kids in shorts seven sizes too small has learned to shout in the ears of animals with hearing 10 times more acute than theirs, determined to become millionaire animal-loving zoo-owners in their turn."


What is really insane is that now, out of vengeance, Irwin's fans are now butchering stingrays in Australia! He certainly instilled a love of wildlife in these fans, didn't he?

From TIMESONLINE.UK

"At least ten stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia’s eastern coast in the last week in what conservationists believe could be revenge attacks for the death of Steve Irwin, the popular naturalist and television personality."