Strange News

[Guest billy bonger]

Croc Hunter Irwin Flees Media Frenzy

2 hours, 40 minutes ago

 

By JAMIE TARABAY, Associated Press Writer

 

SYDNEY, Australia - The "Crocodile Hunter" has become the hunted. Following a weekend of bad publicity, Steve Irwin and his family retreated from the media spotlight and the public outrage he provoked by hand-feeding a crocodile Friday while holding his infant son, a spokesman for his production company said Monday.

 

 

Canadian Press

Slideshow: 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin

 

Crocodile-Infant Stunt Draws Ire

(AP Video)

 

 

 

"Steve's gathering his thoughts at the moment, he's not available for comment," John Harrison from Best Picture Show told The Associated Press.

 

 

Harrison said he has been inundated with phone calls from across Australia and around the world inquiring about Irwin, who has gained worldwide fame for his "Crocodile Hunter" show on the Animal Planet network, in which he chats excitedly about exotic and dangerous creatures — sometimes from extremely close proximity to the beasts.

 

 

Since giving a news conference Saturday, Irwin has gone underground and refused to speak about Friday's media stunt gone wrong.

 

 

Local media reported that Irwin left his popular reptile park in Beerwah, north of Brisbane, but his spokesman declined to comment on his whereabouts.

 

 

The celebrated animal lover, who has survived tussles with giant pythons, poisonous snakes and crocodiles, was blasted for feeding a 13-foot crocodile as he cradled 1-month-old son Robert on Friday at his park in northeastern Australia.

 

 

"What was Steve thinking?" Australian paper "The Sun Herald" asked Sunday.

 

 

Local and international media said the stunt mirrored Michael Jackson (news)'s dangling of his infant son over a balcony in Berlin for the media in November 2002.

 

 

But Irwin angrily rejected any comparisons between himself and Jackson.

 

 

"I would never, ever put him in any danger, not in a million years," Irwin said in Australia's Sunday Telegraph.

 

 

"To hear people say that it was a publicity stunt, that I'm just like Michael Jackson well, it just tears me up. It makes me sick to my stomach to be compared in that way."

 

 

Viewers jammed telephone lines to vent their ire. Child welfare groups likened the incident to abuse, saying Irwin endangered his son. Police delivered a warning, while Queensland state authorities said they would investigate for possible violation of workplace safety laws.

 

 

However, police told reporters Sunday they would not bring charges against Irwin.

 

 

The Sunday Telegraph also reported that after the crocodile feeding, Irwin and his American wife, Terri, told their 5-year-old daughter, Bindi, to splash around in a pool near a crocodile pen to encourage the reptiles to swim out.

 

 

"Now flail around and look helpless, that's the girl, good girl," Terri Irwin was quoted as saying. "That's my girl, Bindi Irwin, the other white meat."

 

 

A zoo official was quoted by the paper as saying a gate connecting the pool to the crocodile pen had been shut.

 

 

The Irwins would not comment on the report, Harrison said.

[Guest billy bonger]

How much does that baby look like a chicken?, What a DICK!

[pipeman]

yeah Steve Irwin is a dick, but I reckon you'd have to be a bit of a dick to want to wrestle with crocodiles in the first place, with or without a baby.

[NEWBIE]

im assuming that he dont somke weed soo he's gotta get high some how rite ?

 

well .. i was watching the news and it show that steve guy & the host said " take a look at Michael Jacksons new babysitter " That hit LMAO

 

~ peace out

[coughmaster]

yeah steve needs to have a few cones and chill for a while

[Tam]

thats what happens when you think you are infallible. He prolly believes nothing bad can happen to him 'ooops, tripped and fell' tsk tsk tsk.

 

cheers, tam

[99waystofuckyou]

I feel sorry for Steve Irwin, I think he's a good bloke and he just loves crocs so much he wanted to show his kid.

 

There are many other parents who should be targeted IMO, what about junkie parents who leave their kids for days and let them fall into lakes, people who leave their kids at home or in cars unattended for a long time.

 

Silly cows who drop their kids on the wrong side of the road and leave them to run across to school or chatter on phones, smoke, discipline children, fiddle with their radio and attempt to control a 4WD are far more dangerous than steve irwin's croc stunt.

 

The newspapers are such a "croc" of shit they couldn't keep their story straight if the croc was 2m or 4m long (i think it looked 2m from the picture)

[Luke Skywalker]

Who cares if it was 1m? It's a crocodile which is hand fed chickens most of the time... what does a small baby look like to a croc?

 

Handfeeding of crocs is looked down upon by the others in the industry too, it's just asking for trouble.

 

Steve is an idiot, but I can understand his reasons. He's just made a very bad judgement call about when it's appropriate to introduce children to dangerous scenarios, and given that he's not known for his wise judgement in a lot of circumstances, it wasn't really surprising that an incident like this happened. Still, he's going to have a very hard time comparing crocs to cars...

 

He made some comment on US telly that the whole event was choreographed and planned down to the last detail, to eliminate any chance of danger. Sorry mate, but when you're dealing with an animal which has successfully predated on just about everything for the last few hundred million years, you'll have a hard time telling it what to do. By their very nature as predators they are unpredictable in the extreme, and as such asking young children to play in the water to attract crocs, (his other daughter) and holding a 1 month old infant only a scant meter or less from the jaws of a very, very large croc, is not what I would call responsible parenting.

 

Sure other parents are irresponsible. Does that mean that because they're not world famous hyperactive expoitation of animals for profit experts they should be the ones punished, and he should be allowed free? No, they're punished, children are removed from dangerous circumstances in family life all the time and placed in foster or other state care... Why should it be any different for him?

[Guest Elefunk]

For an aussie site... u guys shure know how to shoot your own ..

honestly is there anything wrong with that video taken.. ?

of him feeding the crock woth his child..?

like would sum1 seriously en-danger their own flesh an blood if they thought that the odds were stacked againts them..?

its like tossing your child up to catch them agian in play.. (without crocs)

 

i dont know steve erwin personally but i give him the credit..

for kutting it in entertainment

Edited January 6, 2004 by Elefunk

[pipeman]

i think it was stupid but still, although not safe the chances of something happening were low. Steve been around crocs all his life. I think he is best qualified to judge that risk, and the fact that he is still alive reflects highly on his credibility. but, there is a risk there, and its a risk he didn't need to take. and thats what people are objecting too. and I agree. but, overall, he's still a good dad, and to be calling for police to press charges or take his kids away is a bit over the top.