RIP Crocodile Hunter

Steve Irwin’s enthusiasm and energy were infectious. Audiences could readily see that he cared for the critters with which he worked, and his boundless energy made him entertaining to watch as he ran, dove, leaped, and climbed his way after animals. But, while it made him a great host for wild life specials, those personality traits were also what led him to such dangerous antics when dealing with these creatures.

No amount of expertise is a balm for the recklessness that he displayed on camera. No other wild life expert prior to Irwin acted and reacted around these dangerous creatures like Irwin. It was just a matter of time. Anyone who watched any of Irwin’s specials had to come away with the idea that this man was going to die out in the field at some point. Unfortunately, since he was so successful and brought so many more viewers to wild life channels, many of the modern animal show stars now follow in his footsteps.

For some reason, audiences primarily gave Irwin a free pass on his dangerous behavior. No one deplored him when he appeared to tease the crocodiles in their habitats or when he would jump headlong into dangerous encounters. The only time any negative press came his way was when he was in on of his crocodile enclosures carrying his newborn baby. And even then, more rancor was shown to Michael Jackson’s baby dangling incident (when it was clear that Jackson was trying to set the baby on the window sill and just missed) than to Irwin for feeding crocodiles while carrying a live, defenseless, human baby in one arm.

We should honor Irwin’s contributions to animal research, preservation, and understanding. He was also an incredible ambassador for Australia. With his unique style of hosting and animal interaction, he brought new viewers to wild life programming and instructed while he entertained. And, it seems certain, Irwin would likely have wanted nothing more than to go out like he did—interacting with his critters, enjoying the job, and living life to the fullest.

However, I also think we should reevaluate how he interacted with the creatures and how close he came to these dangerous animals to avoid an accident of this nature happening again. Irwin always seemed the most interested in people learning from him. I think we can—both from the incredible job he did educating people about animals, and from the tragic but avoidable way in which he died.