A tribute to Steve Irwin

You know guys, I’m still in shock. I found out about Steve’s passing from the Yahoo News section. My first thought was this was a cruel hoax. Like millions around the globe, I imagined that he was invincible. The sad truth is that life is ever so fragile and we will lose our heroes.

There was this certain charm that Steve possessed. While working at the Singapore Zoo and Jurong Reptile Park, my mentors taught me an important lesson. Instead of fearing an animal, we need to respect and love the animal. And that’s exactly how Steve Irwin was on both TV and real life. It’s an amazing quality that brought him closer to wildlife that one can imagine.

When he was a child, a Tibetan monk whom was visiting his father called young Steve ‘Yogi’. Being a child, he immediately thought that the monk was referring to the cartoon character Yogi Bear. 5 years ago, a group of Tibetan monks visited his zoo and blessed it and the Irwin family. Once again, the monks called him Yogi. He later learnt that Yogi is a person with a higher realization, in his instance of wildlife and the ability to harness the fear of animals.

If you work in a zoo or animal society, you’ll know how hard it is to spread the conservation message. However, he managed to hit home the message each and every time you watched his show. His passionate pleas won the hearts of millions and made a difference!

Almost four years ago, Steve was making $20 million a year from his TV appearances. While living in a modest bungalow, he bought areas of wilderness for parks, developed educational film productions and developed his Australian Zoo. Outside Australia, he has ongoing conservation projects in Fiji, Vanuatu and the US.

So Steve, if you’re reading this somewhere, thanks for spreading the conservation message. Thank you for making animal conservation fun and thank you for the laughs. We’ve lost a gem of a person that had a big heart for life and an even bigger heart for nature. Your dreams and work will be carried in the millions of hearts you have touched.

By Noel Boyd a.k.a The Tattooed Blogger
September 5^th, 2006