For those who would like to be informed, here downunder, we have just completed a public memorial for Steve Irwirn, broadcast live around the world from Australia Zoo, about 1 hour’s drive north of Brisbane. A fitting ceremony for a well liked and highly respected conservationist.
The ceremony finished just under an hour ago, at 10:00am Wednesday, Eastern (Australian) Standard Time. Networks “up over” may re-play the broadcast, or at least, parts of the memorial will be shown on your news services.
Yes we knew there was to be a public service for Steve…He sure was a great Ambassador for your down under country Dave…I believe he was a well liked person up here…I thought he was great.
Sadly, I thought He took too many chances with extremely dangerous animals and we’re sorry a stroke of fate did him in…
He was a popular fellow on talk shows, etc…when he was up here visiting. A great looking family.
Yes Quentin, a big loss, but I do agree with you that he took too many chances with wild animals. When the tragedy occurred, his Producer, John Stainton was quoted in our local newspaper as saying that they had both seen the stingray and he admitted that both knew they were too close.
…Things like that happen Dave…Seems we all have a time to go and nothing we humans can do to change it. Who would have thought an animal such as the non agressive Stingray would be the one to do Steve in…
Dave; I also am a fan of Steve , not many of us have the misfortune to die doing what we like to do best . The lord be with him and keep his family . Respectfully, another Jim.
Yes, may God be with his Soul and family May he know Eternal Peace and happiness.
But!
I thought he took too many chances. I’m obviously an animal guy. They’re not your children. A dog can be your “friend”, but any dog will bite given the necessary provocation. It gets worse with reptiles.
I too liked to watch him. Always loved it when he was on Good Morning America, Live with Regis. . . Just got through watching the clip on GMA, and the eulogy from
his 8 year old daughter gave me the cold chills.
May God be with his family and give them comfort. Rest in peace, Steve Irwin.
Kozzie Like others have stated your country lost a good person as did the world. I feel bad for his daughter my parent died when i was young also so it will be a gap in her life. Thankfully she spent much time with him and will have lots of video to look at in later years.
Steve was a great person to watch on TV. He was so animated that you couldn’t help but watch (and I really don’t like nature shows).
At times he seemed a little over-done, and other times the risks he took were questionable, but the man was able to teach people more about animals and the proper care of the enviroment than any textbook ever could. For that, he will truly be missed by the public at large. I feel most sorry for his family who knew him personally. Such a loss will not be easy to cope with, but my prayers are with them.
He was able to accomplish far more in what he did than Timothy Treadwell, who only succeeded in making people think he was nuts.
…Saw Steve’s young daughter give her message at the service {Wednesday in Australia}…That was moving…! over the top…She was superb. He must have been some Dad to her.
To anyone thinking of visting Australia Zoo, it is on the former Bruce Highway (not the current freeway) alongside the Brisbane to Cairns railway. There are some amazing backgrounds for train photography along there, particularly at Glasshouse Mountains, with the hills behind the pineapple fields.
So we are not that far off topic. I have fond memories of seeing steam hauled freight trains and a wooden passenger train hauled by a 1200 class cab unit in the 1960s on that section, and an electrically hauled container train there in 2002. Sadly, all the electrics are now up north in coal service, but the scenery is still there, as are lots of trains.
But you don’t have to give up railfanning to go to Australia Zoo! Make the most of both!
M636C - in relation to your post - I remember as a child growing up in Brisbane seeing the 1200 class sometimes doing service on the Brisbane suburban system. Was that class based on an EMD design?
Since it’s your thread I can’t be accused of hijacking it!
The 1200 class were an English Electric design, there were only ten of them but they were used for a lot of the early air conditioned train publicity in Queensland in the early to mid 1950s since they matched the trains in shape and colour. They were built by the Vulcan Foundry in England. There were some later units that combined the cab nose with a hood body, built in Rocklea (Brisbane) classified 1250 class and one unfortunate 1200 was converted to that style, numbered 1225.
They were used around Brisbane on suburban trains from the 1960s until electrification about 1980, because at 1200HP they weren’t up to hauling the “Sunlander” or the other long distance trains.
I’m not really a Steve Irwin fan,but he did do a lot to make people aware of reptiles. I learnt about reptiles from the father of a high school friend who worked in zoology at Sydney University. He actually had Tuataras at home. These are tiny lizards from an island off New Zealand, and appear on the NZ five cent piece. There are a lot of these coins in Australia, so look at one if you see one.
Our five cent coin has an Echidna, an anteater which is not a reptile but a monotreme, the same family as the Platypus, and I saw one crossing the road on the way to work yesterday - I kept my eye on it in the mirror until it was safely clear of the road.
Today, in the work car park, we found a frill neck lizard, black and yellow, sunning itself at lunch time. We stopped the car to look at it for a few minutes.
So I guess I support Steve Irwin’s aims anyway. His father’s reptile park, the