There is no doubt that Steve Irwin was a very popular entertainer. We have people in the U.S. who do shows with birds that are also very entertaining and they also claim to be conservationists. But at least in the U.S. there are laws to protect birds and you normally do not see entertaining , bird shows, including raptor shows displaying wild, native birds because it is illegal to do so.
Steve Irwin obviously caught the attention of a lot of people and thrilled children in particular. In and of itself, I do not find that problematic. At various raptor migration banding stations across North America, including Cape May, New Jersey, the Marin Headlands at the north shore of San Francisco Bay, and elsewhere, live, wild raptors are displayed to the public in a very educational manner with little harm to the birds and with education and entertainment value. I have no problem with programs such as these, particularly when there is research value, respect for the lives and stress impacts on the animals, and a proper sense of decorum and professionalism. But Steve Irwin, as far as I know, did not conduct meaningful research of any kind, and his conservationism was more self-serving than beneficial to wildlife in the real world. And I believe that he went beyond the bounds of ethical treatment of wild animals in the name of entertainment. He went grabbing, capturing, wrestling, and displaying any interesting specimen he could find for his show. I don't think this is appropriate and honestly do not believe it should be legal. The manner in which he captured and handled dangerous snakes was profoundly appalling, in my view, as he took unnecessary risks to himself so as to provide the maximum in entertainment value to his viewers. What a terrible example for children anywhere and everywhere, but great showmanship for the juvenile mindset! Why could he not have filmed the animals in their natural environment, as Marty Stouffer or Jacques Cousteau and then perhaps have used his animated charisma to entertain the public without necessarily handling the wildlife, and while explaining the meaning of the behaviors and rejoicing at the beauty and also explaining the conservation needs of the specimens under scrutiny? What Steve Irwin provided to children around the world, as far as I can see, was "conservation candy". It was sweet and appealing, but not particularly nutritious. It is good to love and enjoy nature, but also important to respect it. I did not see real respect in the actions of Steve Irwin, even if his disclaimers and words seemed respectful. Lastly, I do not doubt that some good could come from those antics, but we live in a world now where there is what I consider an unhealthy mix of entertainment, education, news reporting, and even science. People addicted to television seem to believe that the Animal Planet channel on television provides all the ecological education they need. When a kid sees wildlife on television, they have less interest, I fear, in seeing the same animals in the wild, where moments of excitement are much more rare per unit of viewing time. Kids in the developing world may see animals they are more familiar with in the wild than American urban kids are, but the total package of technology-based entertainment and its inevitable corollary in technology-based "civilization" offers a net negative prospect for those kids -- ultimately they may sacrifice their natural heritage in terms of habitat that can be liquidated in order to afford more technology and less nature in their future lives. It appears that I am mostly alone in this line of thinking. Perhaps our whole "civilized" world has gotten to the point of what Aldo Leopold called a "supercivilized" mindset. We are to the point that we even rely on technology and entertainment for our meaningful interfaces with wild nature! And we seem to believe that the same is good for those who still have intact areas of virgin nature to lose. I think that some of our recent ancestors in conservation would roll over in their graves if they saw this occuring, but that is the reality of our times. I am glad that everyone felt free to express their views on all of this, even if they completely disagree with me. At least we have been able to maintain a productive, civliized discourse, and for that I am appreciative. Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
