Steve Irwin – RIP
Steve Irwin died today, killed by a stingray’s blow to the heart while filming on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. While alot will be said about his having died the way he lived, there is something that will be forgotten in his obituary that I believe needs to be said.
Steve Irwin’s interaction with wild animals may have been comical and educational, and was predicated on the assumption that Irwin was a professional who “knew” how to handle the animals. However, we call the animals “wild” for a reason. They are not domesticated and completely predicatable. They may be familiar and that sense of familiarity may lull us into a belief that they are in fact benign, but as so many animal tamers and trainers have found, that belief can be fatal.
I am saddened by Steve Irwin’s death. He helped bring out the child-like joy of animals that many people have forgotten about. He has helped the cause of wildlife conservation with his humor and wit much more than Greenpeace’s heavy-handed guilt trips.
However his death should stand as a warning that the ultimate wildlife conservation will not include our poking them with microphones and videotaping their every move: it will entail our leaving them alone to live – and die – as animals in the wild.
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