‘Crocodile Hunter’ killed by stingray

By Patrick McGowan
September 22, 2006

BOB PEPPING

Steve Irwin, also known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” died on Monday, Sept. 4, after being stung by a stingray off the coast of Australia.

In life, Steve Irwin was an eccentric wildlife lover who appeared in multiple TV shows and documentaries and also owned a zoo in Australia. Irwin brought wildlife awareness to millions of people around the world and is considered the world’s first Wildlife Warrior.

Irwin was known for his high spirit, shouting the word “Crikey!” and wrestling crocodiles. Irwin was also a family man with a wife and two children.

Irwin’s death sent shockwaves through out the world. The entire country of Australia, and the rest of the wildlife community, is still in mourning. Also in Australia, mutilated stingrays have been found on beaches, some believe it is revenge by Irwin fans.

People here see Irwin’s death as ironic. Jessica Storm, a sophomore art major, believes that Irwin had it coming. Storm was surprised that it didn’t happen sooner with all of Irwin’s years of wrestling crocodiles.

Storm also believes that Irwin’s death will not have a major impact on the world. Storm believes that Irwin was not that important.

Senior information management systems major Paul Scott compares Irwin’s death to a historical figure, Attila the Hun. “Attila the Hun pillaged and razed many villages, but died of a nosebleed.” Scott said this to point out the irony in Irwin’s death.

Scott also believes that Irwin’s death could affect the wildlife conservation movement. Scott said that Irwin had gained much respect through his TV shows, and now that respect could be lost since Irwin is no longer around.

Matthew Leitch, sophomore biotechnology major, agrees that Irwin’s death was ironic. Leitch says that Irwin did a lot for wildlife conservation and had an interesting personality.

When Leitch heard about the stingray mutilations in Australia he called them, “Stingray hate crimes.” Leitch says that it is causing more pointless deaths.

Freshman mathematics major Irene Marshak couldn’t believe that Irwin had died. She said that his death was ironic since he died doing what he loved. Marshak also said that his death proves the point that your passion can be lethal.

Marshak was appalled at the story of stingray mutilations. Marshak said that the people killing these stingrays were going against what Irwin believed in. Irwin had lived his life in order to save animals, not cause hatred towards them.

Sophomore biotechnology major Danielle Ferrari was sad that Irwin had died. Ferrari said that nobody could compare to Irwin when it came to dealing with animals.

Ferrari said that Irwin tried to show people around the world animals so that we would learn to respect and not fear those animals. Irwin loved animals a lot and could communicate with them well.

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Patrick McGowan

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