Steve Irwin killed by Stingray

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060904/ap_on_en_tv/obit_irwin

I only just found this out. Quite a shock to me.

I used to work for Steve Irwin. As a volunteer with the Croc Team at Australia Zoo. I wouldn't say we were good mates or anything. I hardly knew the guy. Only spoke to him a couple of times when the park was closing down and he'd come out to check on the progress of builders.

This was back when the old Reptile Park that had been renamed 'Australia Zoo' was rapidly expanding. A new front Gate entrance and a two story restaurant was going up. This was before the Crocoseum was finished. I enjoyed myself there enormously. Watering the Palm trees in the Alligator enclosures, talking to visitors and learning about all kinds of animals.

I'll always remember the way he swore at the slow pace of the builders. With all manner of colourful metaphors. But never
"Crikey".

It's hard to believe a bloke with so much life in him has died so young but atleast he was doing what he loved. Steve was a great guy and my heart goes out to his wonderful wife Terri and their two children.

I'm simply overwhelmed at this news. Even if I hadn't known the guy it would be a shock. Like when Elvis passed away. Steve was a living national treasure like Paul Hogan. I just hope the Zoo doesn't suffer now that it's patron has passed on. He was certainly the major attraction and people travelled from all over the world to see one of his shows.

That's all I have to say on this

Steve Irwin, We'll miss you.

I still remember your daring adventures with crocodiles, snakes ..

You've been an inspiration for teens like me and many others worldwide.

He did more for environmental awareness than any Green peace protest ever did.

I though he was a right twit for quite a while.

But it became apparent how genuine he was regarding the protection of wildlife and related environmental issues.

A true hero.

And a huge loss.

Elvis isn't dead.

My family met Steve and his wife Terry some 13 years ago at his wildlife park before he became famous world wide. My son then 3 was an avid Crocodile Hunteraholic. We watched the Crocodile Hunter morning, noon and night - he loved it that much.

The courtesy and genuine interest both Steve and Terry showed to my kids was absolutely fantastic and memorable. What you saw was what you got ... a family dedicated to wildlife, the environment and the preservation for the future.

My families Deepest sympathies go to Terry, their two children, family, friends and work colleagues of Steve.

The world has lost an amazing, inspirational human being and his family has lost a treasured Dad .... This man was a bright light in an often darkened world ... Let's make his legacy an action, and stop wrecking our planet. Afterall we humans only share it we don't own it!

May those who have the power take note at this man's passing and his inspirational environmental leadership and protect the world's flora, fauna and ourselves from those who who would put the dollar ahead of the planet's ongoing health.

May Steve Irwin rest in peace as his memory will live on.

I read the news today, oh boy..."

Steve we’ll miss you.
Commiserations to your wife & children.

On Line Opinion sub-leases our offices from a blokey firm of surveyors, not noted for sentimentality, or necessarily preserving wildlife. Yet Irwin's death has affected everyone. Even me, and I thought that he promoted an Australia I wasn't particularly keen to be part of.

It's like the Diana phenomenon. I'd hesitate to call him beautiful, but he was vital and infectious, and while he might have been irritating to have around, the sunlight's been turned down several million watts now he's dead, and it sends a shiver of my own mortality up my own spine.

Steve taught us just what a positive outlook can achieve.

I watched him with a kinder eye on Denton last night. I realise, too late, just how much he contributed to the well being of the environment - well, I've learnt a lesson and will strive not to be so judgemental.

We have lost a true individual. Let us continue his good work and be a little kinder to all creatures great and small.

Steve Irwen's work is a treasure for many generations to come. His legend will live on and his name will have world recognition now for the parents who's children have admired Steve's life with the wild for the past decades. As I feel the sadness well up inside and my tears begin to flow, I know I am in vast company with all (young and old) who had the fortune of viewing him in thier homes. Steve was a messenger -- we the intepreters from his magical shared perspective. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Amen

I am approaching 44 myself. Steve Irwin has convinced me by every day living his life to the full to do more with my life. You never know when your time is up. His untimely death has given me a swift kick. I am grateful to him. All of Australia will watch over Terri, Bindi and Bob. Rest in Peace Mate.

Thank you and God Bless you Steve. I will never forget you.
Rest in peace.

Kay

Farewell mate,we have been a richer world for having known you,and my children and grandchildren have benefitted from having a real life hero for a role model.Our sincere and heartfelt thoughts are with his family .God bless you and thanks for sharing this larger than life man with the rest of us.The Wooderson family

I have been reading the comments about Steve Irwin's sad ending with mixed feelings. I feel heartbreak for his family who have suffered a great personal loss in such a sudden and unexpected manner. However the trend of the comments about the life of Steve leave me disturbed.To put it in perspective he, when all is said and done was a SHOWMAN.His stock in trade was to portray an Ocka image which captured the imagination of the,mainly young, audiences both at home and abroad. I have often cringed at his manner and actions, particularly during interviews in the USA. He was certainly not an Icon nor a true role model of what this country is all about.Now we are hearing about a State Funeral. I think that the idea is absurb.

Alamo

shame shame shame. Ocka is a term we are now proud to use thanks to Steve. He put QLd on the map in the states. Hell if it wasn't for him, Beerwah wouldn't have flourished as well as it did. He was always genuine. The Showman behaviour - what showman behaviour. He was himself, no put on, that was how he was 24 hours a day. Just watch the interviews and memories of him, so many people say that what we saw on camera is what you go in person. It is a tragic thing that has happened. A freak occurence that should never have happened. but remember what the police said - he did nothing to provoke the animal. think of his family. how would they feel to hear all of this just days after his death. He flirted with danger, but he was just doing was he was brought up to do. read the newspapers, listen to the newscasters on the TV and actually pay attention to what they say before you post any negative commnets about his great man. give the legend a state funeral. he has done so much and given so much it's the least the country could do for him and his family. What an inspiration he has been to us all, and how proud will it make his kids when they are older, to see how much love the country had for thier father.

The world has lost a great and good man.

It times like these when I wonder about the ways of the "Almighty". I can think of a lot of corrupt old fogies that the world would be better off without. But Steve Irwin - it's hard to understand why he was "taken" so young.

I was in tears when I heard of his death and I've never in his show on TV. It was never given an airing here in Melbourne as far as I know.

My heartfelt sympathy to his family, friends, collegues, and employees.

DAKADAKA
I was very careful not to write ill of Steve Irwin in my post and cannot
find anything which would be offensive to his family but you choose to think otherwise. To go into more detail, the comments which I referred to appeared in this and a related thread." A foundation or similar should be set up." " A statue should be erected." " A Princess Di like happening." " A State Funeral." I believe all the above to be absurd and/or inappropriate.
Yes I have read/seen/listened to the media about this man and I had read/seen/listened to the same media castigate in no uncertain manner the unfortunate "baby" incident

I just hope now Steve is now no longer with us that Terry stays in Australia with the kids and carry on his great work...

I would be so dissappointed if she took the kids back to America and they lose touch with their roots and the home of their father..

Steves memory will live on and hopefully he has passed some of his passion for the conservation of wildlife onto to us, the Australian people so that he didnt die in vain...

Ozgirl

You have expressed what I have been thinking. I too hope that Terry will stay here with her family. I feel that Terry is more a part of us than the US. I hope she knows that.

I put forward the idea of a statue in another article discussion and still think he would be more deserving of it than the Political figures routinely cast in stone.

But I also stated in another thread that I thought a State Funeral a little over the top for a guy like Steve Irwin. He lived simply and would have wanted to be laid to rest in similar style. Not with an expensive public funeral at tax payers expense. Thats for people like Packer who liked to waste money. I heard his father on the radio this morning saying words to the same effect. Steve was just an ordinary guy he said. I think a lot of people would disagree there. He certainly wanted to be treated like an ordinary guy but the Larrikin was anything but.

Wayne

Steve's father has already vetoed the idea of a state funeral for the very same reasons - that Steve was a down to earth sort of guy and wouldn't want a state funeral.

My respect continues to soar for the Irwins.

I heard Steves dad say on a tv special last night that he would now try to carry on in Steves place until the kids are old enough ,so I think its safe to say (fingers crossed) that his legacy will be in safe hands...
I think Terry will stay here..

My kids suggested we send some flowers,so a little bit of us is at Australia Zoo today..We sent him and his family a foral arrangement of 'Giant Proteas'...perhaps we should have donated that money to the Wildlife Warrior fund? We still can.

I feel sorry for poor little innocent Bindi the most.
http://www.bindiirwin.com

Terri has her children to think about and keep her strong and Bob is too young to really understand what has happened. It's sad that he won't have any fond memories of his crazy Dad when he gets older though. But really it's Bindi who is going to be totally shattered the most. A large chunk of her universe has simply vanished and she's certainly old enough to feel the anguish of losing a parent.

Steve was filming documentary footage for Bindi's first ever television show of her own. Her major step into stardom. Now ofcourse the whole thing is up in the air and Terri will have to decide whether or not to let the series continue.

Now the media will doubtless centre its attention on the surviving members of the Irwin clan and in particular little Bindi. I doubt Terri will sell the Zoo but I imagine it will be hard to keep working there with all its associated memories. Life just isn't fair is it.

This couldn't have happened to a less deserving family. I know that many people half expected Steve would one day get eaten by a Croc but that was never really on the cards. He knew Crocodiles too well. Apparently he wasn't quite as much an expert on Stingrays though. It was a one in a million freak accident for sure but the ocean wasn't Steve's specialty. He was great with all animals but nobody could have known that was going to happen.

On the positive side Steve had a full life if a short one and crikey did he have a lot of adventures. The Irwins certainly won't be alone in their grief either. They have a lot of friends and supporters to help get them though this trying time.

I think that, overall, Steve Irwin contributed greatly towards interesting kids worldwide, about the environment. Because he projected that enthusiastic determined "ordinariness', he had great appeal, especially to Australians, who don't always like the lecturing mode of the BBC and David Attenborough.
It's a pity that someone so talented as Steve Irwin had to disguise his intelligence with a yobbo-iike presentation, in order to win the hearts and minds of Australians and Americans. But apparently, in these countries, it's best to not appear too bright, if you want to be liked.
I thought that Germaine Greer had a real point, in criticising Irwin's macho mode of studying nature, and that hers was not really an attack on the person himself - so much as of his methods of invading the territory of animals, and subjecting them to frightening experiences. Germaine Greer did not deserve the hostile reaction to her quite appropriate criticisms.

I reckon most of us latte sipping, chardonney quaffing sofisticate types in Oz thought Steve Irwin was a bit, well... gauche. But what's become obvious to me in the last few days is that he was extraordinarily genuine. Politically, and in some ways environmentally naive, he sometimes spoke up for the 'wrong' things. Yet he put his heart in every place he put his mouth. He loved his life and everything in it. And that's an awesome thing to experience vicariously as he let us do through his tv and zoo. I've been thinking about what an emotionally driven man he was. A rare thing. The papers here are full of Steve stories and I read today how much he pleased Terri, as a husband.

And he was just a bloke, just himself. Apparently, his long-time director didn't let him see any of his shows or movies until they were in the can. It was so Steve could continue to be just himself and not mold his style to a perceived need.

I'm glad he lived and I'm very sorry he died. And I now realise that in his ocker way, his more crocodile than dundee way, Steve Irwin was the explorer and adventurer so many of us still want to be in this big empty continent. The difference is, he had the balls and the heart to do it.

BY CRIKEY...YOU LIL BEAUDY.....couldnt resist, has such a satisfying sound to it.

Now almost a week out and the outpouring of emotions shown by Australia and the world are just amazing..there are a few knockers trying to get a reaction (pity them) but theyre tiny voices are lost in a ocean of love for this man.

His passion and devotion to conservation will live on and he in the hearts of all who aspired to his love and committment to the environment and earths creatures..

I loved Steve Irwin from the moment I realised he existed and watched everything i could ,thats as close as i could get to him.

It is sad that he wasnt in Australia a lot longer because i feel shortchanged that America had him for so long and us such a short time in comparison.

I feel upset everytime i hear anyone say they thought he was an embarrassing loudmouthed dill...and now hes gone..'oh what a great bloke?'
Thats gets me riled..

When will the idiots in this country get over 'THEYRE' rediculous cultural cringe and stop knocking our brightest and best?
He was a shining star and yet a lot of stupid Australians only felt embarrssed by the"CRIKEY" and how they thought we looked to the rest of the world because of it?

Well the world already loved and admired him as the special and unique man he was, it was the Aussies as usual who just cant find it in theyre hearts to give credit where credits due...Im not a huge fan the US but at least they love and accept their own and even big enough to love one of ours....no wonder they go overseas to a place where they are valued..shame on us.

OZGIRL

Geez mate. Lovya post. Thanks mate.

Onya!
Kay

In Response to ALAMO ---- Get a life ---- you obviously wanted to say what you did otherwise you would have just shut up. There is a Ms. Greer that may be of interest to you ---- Good luck

Horus,Kalweb,and Nannygnomis,

I reckon Graham Young will be absolutley over the moon with joy to know that dead people can read OLO posts - as your posts addressing Steve [directly] suggest.

Will he post a reply..?

Hi Steve,(if you are up there/down there- reading this)

You know I never really could entertain what you were all about.Probably because (like you) I grew up around crocs and snakes and other crawly things. The difference between you and me is I didn't go out to jump on them, grab them, for the sake of making TV shows. They were there and so was I and learning to live with them was more important than annoying the hell out of them. But at the same time I can understand how people who are sh^*t scared of these creatures would see you as a hero because they live in TV world half their lives and the bush is a very scary place for them. Its a real bugga that stinga got you like it did. Anyway, Can you say hello to Elvis, Lady Di,
Karly Marx, Graham Kennedy, and Bob (Gilligan) Denver, and my dog Butcher for me please.
Thanks mate.

Rainer
OMG - do you honestly think he would say hi to your dog for you or the other names you mentioned, after what you said. Or are you just trying to be another idiot looking for a bit of attention or just trying to be a bit of a Germain Greer wannabe. The hyde that some people have at the moment.

I went to the Australian Zoo Friday evening, and the atmosphere there was not only sombre, but awe-inspiring. It is absolutely amazing how many lives this one person affected from all corners of the globe. The number of tributes is amazing. His children will be proud. If you knew anything about him you would know that he never started out for the tv the tv found him. The zoo is testament to his true love of the creatures of the wild.

I am not attacking you directly just the idiotic blah blah blabber that spilt onto your keyboard. Next time you choose to slander a good name or insult the memory of a good person think about it from the if it were you perspective. How would your family react if they saw words of insult written about you just days after laying your body to rest.

Rainier

I know that you are an intilligent and well educated Aboriginal man who is politically astute. That is obvious from your posts in many other threads. I also pick up from your posts on other threads that you can come across as extremely bitter and nasty - not unlike Germaine Greer, searching for another 15 minutes of fame - riding on the back of another.

I have a friend who worked for Steve Irwin. He said that Steve was totally honest and dedicated - and that he did indeed engage on a personal level with his 500 staff at Australia Zoo. So, what is wrong with having a charismatic personality, being a dedicated conservationist and being a showman? A good bag of tricks me thinks.

I get the impression that you despise anyone who achieves more than you. For example, sometime back on another thread, you were scathing about my friend Jack Beatson. I can assure that you do not have your facts straight about him either. Jack first came to my home in 1980. I got to know him very well. I went to his wedding and maintained a strong friendship.

Its simple really dakada..these people dont think..period... they use forums such as this to get a little bit of piddling 'recognition' for themselves .These threads and subjects bring out these types they of whom form the lowest common denominator....we should not be at all concerned with a thing they say..for their tiny bitter voices are lost in an ocean of love displayed by the world for this man....

Really the fact that they come out at all is testament to thr greatness of the croc hunter....because all the truly great have their detractors..Elvis etc....its really a compliment.tall poppies and bitter and twisted aussies.

Hey, Steve also had a dam good sense of humour. Its what made him so unique. And guess what, by divine telethapy he just told me my dog was happy but misses chasing the cat next door, Elvis is a snob and Graham Kennedy loves to make fun of God's hair piece - and all the crocs up there can speak and are real friendly - can’t leave him alone cos they love him so much.

Kalweb, You know - I don’t think for a minute that I’m super intelligent and I apologise if thought I was slagging off at old Jack (I was not) but I did comment about your perceptions of him and Aboriginal people. That’s very different from what you say I said.

OK Rainier - agree to disagree.

Even so, you are a very intelligent person who should be listend to - after the sarcasm droppings.

I agree. Of course I have no understanding of Aboriginal culture. But I beg to differ that I do not have some insight - given that I lived in Townsville with a male of Aboriginal heritage and my only visitors were black fellas - for 5 months. That taught me heaps.

Hi there Steve. Next week is gonna be a big show - and not of your making.

Cheers
Ka

Deborah58
Of course I wanted to comment, that is why I commented. I can assure you that I have a "life" as you put it. Not want to get into a verbal with you but I thought that a Forum was a place to freely express one's view. I appear to have been mistaken . Farewell Forum

ALAMO,

I think you'll find that the reason Steve has earnt the respect of many australian's is NOT for his television show and "typical aussie bloke" persona, but more so for his animal conservation efforts and his contribution to promoting australia's unique wildlife abroad. I wont pretend for a second that Steve represents the majority of Aussie blokes in big cities in Australia, he simply doesnt. I also wont pretend that I prefer to watch his documentaries over other more educational documentary makers such as David Attenborough. I will say this though, he did spend alot of his fortune towards the conservation of endagered species and educating the public on native wildlife. Anyone who suggests like Rainer did that he jumps on crocodiles purely just to profiteer needs to understand that many scientists devote their lives to what they are passionate about everyday. Why is it such a suprise that Steve did? Not many scientists are able to directly touch so many people as well as Steve did.

Where australia owes alot of its gratitude to Steve is in how he promoted Australia abroad. Our tourism industry only stands to gain from people like Steve. Say what you want about the guy, he got more recognition in the States than probably any other australian has in recent times. More people in the US would know the name Steve Irwin than John Howard. No one can truely calculate the positive impact on tourism that Steve has had, or the number of jobs that he has created. But it is quite evident that he has had a notible impact and the popularity of Australia zoo is just a small testimant to this.

Has the media gone over the top? Well yes they have, but they always do in a country that has little to complain about. As for a state funeral, well if thousands attend his public reception, then YES he did deserve a state funeral, if very few do, then no he didnt. I for one believe he will proove that this was not an over the top decision by Beatie.

Kish.. well said...a bit of jealousy or sour grapes displayed by some people re Steve Irwin..why is it so hard to believe that he was a genuine Aussie bloke fighting for and giving recognition to animals in the way he knew best...

Is it human nature to not want to belive that some people are just good? and that they really dont have a personal agenda?

He sunk nearly all his millions into buying wilderness for the future of dispossessed animals all over thhe world.

He put his money where his heart and his mouth was..

How many of us can say that?
He was genuine to the core...people saw it, felt it and he was loved for it..

His good work will live on...he left 2 little Irwin clones, Bindi and Bob.(in his image they are) who will protect and carry on his legacy of love and conservation to the worlds creatures and theyre environments.

Pk...'played the buffoon to get rich from tittilating TV'..
You want a disparaging remark about Steve Irwin...there you have it...

On another thread you wrote this...that to me is disrespect for a dead man who cannot defend himself from these generalisations and character assassinations made by pple who knew him not.You wrote it you own it.

Id expect that from "proud to be Indo' but from a fellow Aussie?no.

OZGIRL,

Thanks for your kind words. I think people need to get over this whole thing, if Australians want to grieve over Steve then why shouldnt they? If Steve touched them or inspired them to the extent that they feel sad enough to grieve then let them grieve. When Austraslia got kicked out in the world cup soccer by Italy I grevied and thats not even the loss of a human life!

Different people touch all of us in different ways. Some may not care that Steve died, clearly alot do. Johhny Warren who was an advocate of soccer in this country and he passed away last year. Most on here probably don't even know who he is, even though he recieved a state funeral. For me this was incredibly sad. Peter Broke passed away last week, hes receiving a state funeral as he had a huge following. I don't see what the problem is? Now yes compared to huge disasters where many people die the human loss is not the same, that doesnt for a second mean that people arent entitled to grieve for those who touched alot of lives. It is why we live in a democracy, so we have the right to grieve for who we please!

As for proud to be indonesian, hahahahaha I can't think of a indonesian that I have met in my time that rivals this moron in stupidity. I think hes strugling to even comprehend half the posts.

You know guys really most of the time I think he was taking the "piss out of himself". But having said that he was a really funny down to earth character, who will be sadly missed by many many people. I think that the kids will miss him more than anyone. I know my kids loved him and have all his DVD's and watch them all the time. My kids are really kind to animals and if anything they have learnt that every animal deserves to live. My kids save bugs and take them outside.

Kish u are so right ...his moronic dribbling knows no bounds...but it is useless to continue to give the weirdo more fodder on which to keep launching his hateful attacks....he is clearly trolling.. that is frowned upon and clearly 'illegal' on these forums...

The loss of three particularly unique Australians in nearly as many weeks.

Again - Vale & RIP, Don Chipp, Steve Irwin, & 'Brocky'.

For a tired hag like Germaine Greer to denigrate the memory of Steve Irwin - quirky at times and irksome at others as he was...well Mizz Greer I've burnt my skid marked 'Y' fronts in protest! And I've cut out the sleeves of my old army greens shirt, chucked on a pair of khaki stubbies, and Crikey... I'm as mad as hell about your recent article in the press.

Such a hypocrite you certainly are, as to own a cat, and then to cast aspersions at Steve!

What next - a go at Brocky for polluting the atmosphere?

Give up Germaine, go and retire on some little patch of irradiated desert, and grow another head you tired, burnt out Erinye!

THANK YOU KISH
You have just blown me away with your well set out post. I have to admit now that my previous posts on this thread appear to have been wide of the mark as the responses have, in the main, been overwhelming. I must say in my defence that I have not made any personal comments about Steve, the man, only about the reaction of the posts sent in and I WAS WRONG and freely admit it.

Deborah58..yes ive no doubt that the kids will miss him...my kids do..they were glued to the screen..he kept them enthralled and laughing.
me too.

And he did take the p..s out of himself..a lot of the time.He was a loveable character.

Alamo,

I understand that alot of the posts seem to be quite emotive with little explanation as to why. I just tried to bring out a different perspective of steve in my post as I appreciate that alot of people may not see him as anything more than larrikyn / show man. I respected steve for the reasons outlined in my post and I would like to think that alot of other Australian's shared my sentiment. I hope if nothing else you may see Steve in a slightly different light to before.

I didn't suggest that you made any personal attacks on Steve and if my post appeared condensending in any way, I apologise. I do feel as though the meida have gone over the top with this, Don Chipp was another great austrlaian who achieved quite alot in his life. He has hardly recieved a mention relative to Steve, either has Peter Broke. Unfortunatly the media will never change, and they will always surcumb to what sells as opposed to what is realistic. In saying that though, I do feel that Steves passing deserves a State Funderal and it definatly is a sad loss for myself and alot of other Australians.

To keep the notion of a State Funeral in perspective, it is really nothing more than a very large funeral. If that much of the public wish to attend the death of someone then that someone has obviously touched alot of lives and deserve a very large / state funeral. Couple this of course with contributions to society and I don't feel that Steve deserves a State funeral any less than Peter Brooke.

Sadly, some of the nutter animal lib groups like Peta,
claim that he was evil!

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20416313-2,00.html?from=public_rss

I admired Steve Irwin. He taught lots of people lots about
nature and the real world, which most of them, in their
city cocoons, knew nothing about.

Peta should be ashamed of themselves, yet once again.

I agree Yabby until the unfortunate loss of Steve Irwin I had never heard of Peta, but of course they jumped on the bandwagon to bignote themselves and all of a sudden everyone know of Peta, allbeit for the wrong reasons.

Yabby

Thank you for your post and the link.

The sentinments expressed in your post were clearly sound and sincere.

I had heard of PETA before and I had read some of their previous rubbish. No air time from me!

Cheers
Kay

to all,

PETA are nothing more than over glorified hippies that resort to acts of terrorism (vandalism and burning down of property) to supposedly "protect" animals. There movement is much larger in the states than here and they resemble some of the antics people have become accustom to with kkk and other such over the top cults.

They have been known to burn to down science labs in universities as the presiding scientists used animals such as rats for medical experiments (e.g. cures for cancer). They also conduct regular violent protests in dog hounds suggesting that this is somehow sentancing stray dogs to prison. The hypocracy of their actions is that they end up slaughtering something like over 1000 dogs / cats a year in their own headquaters much the same as dog pounds do. To make matters worse, their own leader has stated that she see's violence as an acceptable measure in certain circumstances to "protect" animals. One of there associates went to prison for such acts and was funded by PETA.

According to PETA, you can't have pets and if you understand their "constituion" you would be so busy laughing at the sheer stupidity of it all, that you would almost forget this organisation has a following of around 1 million ppl worldwide now.

Dear friends of wildlife.

When I heard that Steve Irwin was dead I felt more alone. It was like a big voice for good had been silenced. I am a founder of the new Coalition for Wildlife Corridors and I would like to pass on the following message:

ALERT FROM THE COALITION FOR WILDLIFE CORRIDORS

In the spirit of Steve Irwin, who fought so hard for wild creatures, please send this complaint to politicians and to all the lists you can.

COMPLAINT:

Over the last week or so Nigel's Animal Rescue Services has had reason to attend a situation at Bundoora (Vic), to not only try to rescue Kangaroos, but also had the unfortunate task of waiting for the arrival of police from nearby, to come out and destroy them. (He has photos of this problem).He has attended to some with broken legs and hips. Nigel tells us that there is about 500 in the herd and they are grazing, looking for food, in the area of Plenty rd. at the old Janefield complex opposite RMIT. There are no fences and the Kangaroos are wandering onto the "Freeway" constantly.

Who's responsibility is this?

Due to Melbourne 2030's drive for population growth, the situation for kangaroos is getting worse by the day ....we urgently need continuous, connecting wildlife corridors linked to reserves, sanctuaries, private land and national parks all connected and continuous to provide our national symbol with at the very least safe habitat but due to increasing industrial and residential development their homes have been stolen from them.

Too many people, too much money being made and too much of everything that is detrimental to our native animals.

We are in the process of working with the powers that be to help the Somerton kangaroos and are making good steady progress but this is only ONE fire that is getting attention. Now we have another emergency and more at Mill park, and a dozen other venues.

Crises like this are facing wildlife in every state and must be fought Australia-wide.

Contacts for Wildlife Coalition:

Mobile 0417 148 501
www.awpc.org.au
kangaroo@pen.hotkey.net.au

I would just like to say what a wonderful memorial service it was I am so glad that Steves family did not accept the offer of a state funeral it just wasnt him but the memorial service they gave him was a real aussie one .I'm sure if Steve was watching he would have loved it. I am so sorry for Terri as she has lost her soul mate and his kids a wonderful father and also his own dad what a loss to them all. God Bless you all and keep you in his care I am praying for you all