Rest in Peace, Mate...

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin is dead... ironically, not from a croc bite, or from a fear snake's venom, but from a stingray's barb in the heart.

My kids grew up watching Crocodile Hunter, a great family show, and I always marvelled at his way with animals. I admired his ability to keep his cool while being bitten by animals ("oooohh--he's a naughty boy!"), all the while keeping in mind that animals will do what animals will do.

Not many would know, however, that Steve Irwin was not your run-of-the mill environmentalist whacko.


Steve Irwin was, in actuality, a conservative, with a great love of all animals, and was the epitome of what it means to be a true steward of the earth and its creatures. Unlike the socialist enviornmentalist movement, who advance the cause of socialism cloaked in environmentalism, Steve Irwin was one who truly advanced the notion that progress and protecting the environment could co-exist, and were far from being mutually-exclusive.

But I guess the thing that stood out for me the most, is the fact that as an Aussie (in the greatest sense of the word), Steve Irwin also knew, respected, and revered the great human cost of freedom. Steve filmed a two-hour special about WWII that I saw a few years ago, and his reverence for the battlefields he traversed, as well as the sacrifices that took place on those battlefields, are more than evident in his commentary.

In his deep respect for our armed forces, Steve Irwin went out of his way to film a number of "Crocodile Hunter" programs on American military bases.

The world did suffer a significant loss when it lost Steve Irwin. Mr. Irwin was about what environmentalism and conservationism was meant to be.

****UPDATE*****

A more detailed account of the tragedy can be found here.

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