This is just your uneducated guess. You who probably have never been anywhere near a crocodile in your life.
Whereas Steve Irwin knows crocodiles better than anybody else in the world, and knows exactly what to look for, and when he’s likely to actually be in real danger.
If I recall correctly, that incident was when there was a flood, and many people were in the water, and unexpectedly the crocodiles got very close to them and bit one of the handlers when he wasn’t in a position to defend himself. A very unusual situation, as opposed to how the shows are done at the Zoo, which are ultra-carefully controlled and performed regularly.
Would it be considered reckless or no big deal if Jeff Gordon strapped one of his youngsters(I don’t know if he has any but use any racer and his young child) into his #24 and raced the Daytona 500 with him? After all he is a expert on racing and know the risks. It was a stupid move by Steve.
Bullshit. I know people that have lived very close to the zoo where he works, he was doing what he does for years before he ever had a TV show or much of any publicity at all. I don’t even think they set out to be famous or anything, it just kind of happened upon him. You may think he’s a tool but he truly does care about and help the animals that he runs across. One of the programs they do in Australia is to move crocs that are infringing on farm land or whatever to safer areas, so that they can live in peace rather than be shot by farmers. He’s involved in tons of conservation and education work.
There are a lot of people doing a lot of things just for the money, but he is not one of them.
Whoever said he’s not been bitten by snakes – have you seen his bloopers videos? It’s about two hours of him being bitten by snakes and crocs, among other critters. He most certainly does get bit, but I think he’s learned how to take and minimize an attack as well as he’s learned to handle the animals to begin with.
I can think of a lot of worse things than what he did. He spends so much time around these animals, it probably felt very natural to him at the time. With a crowd of onlookers, his wife watching, and I’m sure a group of medical professionals/animal handlers watching in case anything went wrong, I seriously doubt the kid was in any real danger. Crap, he probably picked one of the oldest and slowest crocs in the zoo to begin with. He was just chucking a chicken at it. Not like he was sticking his head in its mouth while holding the baby or anything.
I don’t think it was a safe thing to do at all. I like the Irwins, but that was too much. So many things that Steve should have thought about, that would have made NOT taking the baby out the wise decision.
First off, the safety issues. Being around wild animals is always dangerous, whether you’re a professional or not. Shit happens, you can’t control everything that’s going on. Involving a helpless baby is just stupid. You can risk yourself, but not someone who can’t voice a decision in the matter.
The baby is barely one month old. They claim they were doing it for the baby’s experience. HE’S ONE MONTH OLD!! The only things he cares about at this point are boobies and what’s doing on in his diaper. He’s not going to remember this.
Steve and Terri are celebrities. They should know that the possibility of camaras being around taping whatever they’re doing is very high.
They should have considered the reactions of others. They don’t think they did anything wrong, but other people obviously did, and they should have suspected as such. If I were on the same wavelength, and was thinking about taking my newborn child out to feed a wild and hungry crocodile, I would take into consideration the unneeded and unwanted attention it could generate, thus deciding to leave lil’ Bob with mummy.
It was a very poorly thought out decision they made.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/03/1072908951073.html
Steve said he was in complete control and the danger there was only perceived. He said he would never do it again, but they live in a crocodile prone area and the people and kids have to be crocodile savvy. I think people are taking this way out of proportion.
I can almost garuntee that more infants die in automobile accidents but in the world we live in it is very hard to impossible to get to baby’s doctor appointments or visit the grandparents etc. etc. It however is not the least bit nessecary to bring your child to feed a fucking croc. You don’t need to be an expert to realize that a croc is dangerous you have millions of years of evolution. I am actually surprised your genes lasted this long with your attitude towards predators.
Comparing dangers in a completely differant situation does not have any relevance as to wether it is dangerous for a one month old to be dangled within a few feet of a feeding crocodile.
Not strapping in children in a car is dangerous, owning large dogs in a household can be dangerous, but neither situation is meaningful in a risk assessment of the croc affair, each situation must be taken upon its own merits.
I think there’s been so many strawmen in this debate from both sides that this thread is starting to look like a harvest festival.
If you don’t mind a quick poll, is there anyone in this thread who has any sort of experience with crocodiles or alligators? Or any large reptile? Is there anyone in this thread who knows anything about crocodiles that they didn’t learn from watching The Crocodile Hunter?
Because I sure don’t. I went to Gator Land in Florida once, where they had alligators that could leap fifteen feet out of the water to snatch a raw chicken hanging from a wire. I’ve seen 'em eat a bunch of cultists in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I’ve seen Steve Irwin talk about incisor length and pounds of pressure per square inch. But that’s not knowledge, that’s just entertainment. I don’t know jack shit about crocodiles. Can you domesticate a crocodile? Are they trainable? what kind of tranquilizers work well if you want a docile croc for your animal show? I have no way of judging how dangerous that crocodile was in that cage with that baby, and neither does anyone else in this thread.
You want to talk about straw men? How about that Daytona 500 one? That’s a fucking moronic comparison, because everyone knows about cars. Everyone has relevent personal experience about cars, and can make an informed decision about how dangerous it would be to take a baby on the Daytona 500. We can also judge degrees of risk: Baby on board for 500 laps: too dangerous. Baby sitting in car for photo op day before the race: not too dangerous. Is this situation more like the former, or the latter? On what basis do you make that judgement? How do you know?
The number #1 accidental death for toddlers (in the U.S.) is drowning. Doesn’t stop everyone from putting that pool in the backyard, does it?
NO-ONE on this thread has experience with crocs, but I, for one, having watched Steve’s show, assume he has a better chance in a cage with a croc than I do driving down the highway.
Bugger! I live not 40 minutes from Australia Zoo and the Irwin circus - and I have to come onto the SDMB to find out that I have to be crocodile savvy.
How have I survived this long? Should I be fearful in case a croc escapes from the zoo and somehow finds its way over to my place?
Seriously - there are no crocodiles outside the zoos and theme parks in southern Queensland. No matter what Steve Irwin’s show might tell you. They live in the far north of Australia
Just to clarify a bit, he wasn’t just holding the baby in his arms, he later held him by his arms and walked him across the floor.
The grizzly expert and his girlfriend were mauled to death in Alaska last October. We all know what happened to Roy and the tiger. I don’t care how much of an expert you are, shit happens. No matter how minutely small the risk, it is a fact that Irwin upped the odds of something happening to his baby the moment he brought him into the pen.
Aside from the physical danger to his baby (no matter how small), how stupid for him to not realize that this was an idiotic move that would hurt his public image?
Well, since it seems absurdly appropriate given what Steve-o was holding in each of his hands, I’ll paraphrase my latest favorite comic:
Actually, chicken tastes like babies!
[sub]If everything tastes like chicken, then babies must taste like chickens, and if you’ve got a sick sense of humor, that means . . .
thanks to Eddie Izzard for bringing this thought into my life[/sub]
