Steve Irwin RIP

Woke up to the sad news that crocodile hunter Steve Irwin had died, apparantly stung by a Stingray in the course of of filming for a TV show. It's even more sad considering he's leaving behind a young family.

I remember back in my student days seeing him on ITV with a documentary about Komodo dragons, never seen or heard of him befor(or Komodo dragons) and me and a flatmate or two got sucked in watching this crazy guy lying around near these creatures that could have easily killed him. This was before he'd become a really familiar face on our TV screens, it was such a change from any other animal programme. Nowadays there are others that trade on this seemingly reckless style of interacting with wildlife that it makes Steve Irwin seems pretty normal in comparison, though you always got the impression that he might take risks but they were calculated and he wasn't really quite as mental as you first take him for. Well ok he was clearly a bit mental

As an animal lover, environmentalist and entertainer he will be missed many thousands that have watched his shows. I'll look forward to watching some of his stuff again, but it'll be tinged with a little sadness from now on that there won't be the chance for him to make anymore.