Steve Irwin?

[JasonBrennan]

OH, and as far as Mark O'Shea goes, I don't see any of his shows on very often. He seems to have more specials than a regular show. I usually see him (when I do see him) on either Animal Planet or on Discovery Channel. Like I said before, I like him, but his shows are very often just alot of him looking for the animals, and really only a few minutes of actual animal footage. The shows seem to be more about the "hunt" than the "find".

[Nanashi04]

Wow... I didn't expect a reaction like this... o.o;

I've never een O'Shea either... I don't watch that much TV, really.
I definatly don't care for Corwin... he's just too cheery, If that's reason to be bugged by him. I'd have to say my favorite Animal Planet show - even though it's not really herp-centered at all - is The Most Extreme...

[V.aw]

Who cares if steve stages his finds? His show is entertaining, and he has alot of passion for animals. All i can see her is jealousy going overboard. give the guy a break.

[katev17]

OOH My other favourite Animal Planet show is MONKEY BUSINESS! Oh man, it's actually so hilarious, plus the zoo directors of "Monkey World" (the zoo that the monkeys live in) travel to different parts of the world to save monkeys that are being sold/traded illegally... I remember seeing one where he was searching for a little monkey girl "coco" or something like that, and within a few days he actually found her climbing on the top of a boat (a big boat) and was so close to falling in the water... When the owner came out he started hitting the monkey and the second that the owner turned away, the monkey ran straight towards the guy from the zoo (sorry if that made no sense, I'm getting sick lol) ... unfortunately he couldn't just run away with the monkey, and no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't buy the monkey cuz he'd just be contributing to the entire illegal trade problem... what a dilemma! Anyway I think it's an awesome show even if it's not about herps, it's amazing to see some of the things chimps can do...

Make sure you check it out!

PS - Most Extreme is great too, I don't remember the last time I saw it though... hmm.....

[eyespy]

Friends of mine who live in Arizona and have seen Corwin, Irwin and O'Shea all film shows there say all 3 stage their finds. It makes sense, paying a crew by the hour is very expensive. Herpers sometimes get very lucky and find all sorts of critters one day, another time they find nothing! Who could afford to pay a crew to follow him around to find stuff.

I also prefer O'Shea's shows but admire the Irwins greatly for how well they put out the conservation message and how they get children so interested in herps. Also, they were very supportive to the Philadelphia Zoo when they rebuilt their reptile house and even more so when a devastating fire on a Christmas Eve burned down the primate house and killed many beloved animals.

They do a lot of work within the zoo community which is not on the show but very valuable indeed.

[katev17]

I'm glad to see that someone finally acknowledges them for their non-TV work... even if he does stage his finds he's still sending such an important message and awareness... not only about herps. I think they've made such an important contribution (yes, even Terri... [but only cuz she tags along]) and I commend them for it, even if it has nothing to do with the show.

[Swampwalker]

Yes, he definately stages a lot of his scenes, but so does National Geographic and many of the other nature programs. Staging is part of the business and sometimes the only way to get a lot of the shots. The ethical line for staging is blurry as to how much interference is acceptable and what isn't.

[Dom]

He anoys me but he is by far the best thing that ever happenned to the herping community..

[eyespy]

Terri contributes a lot more than merely tagging along. She is very well versed in veterinary medicine for a non-vet and works quite hard on studies to prevent health problems, and also on diagnoses/necropsies of difficult diseases. She is also a contributor on genetic databases that help zoo breeding programs worldwide.

When the primate house burned down in Philadelphia, most of the animals died of smoke inhalation and she worked hard with other folks on figuring out safer building materials for the new house so that if the worst should happen there would be less toxic smoke created.

[V.aw]

Getting distraught because he stages his finds is stupid. It should be about his knowledge of the animal, and its origin. I dont think he stages all of the finds, espeacially the komodo dragon episode, You dont magically pick up 20 komodos and throw them in one area

[Mustangrde1]

I think ill keep my personal thoughts of Steve polite.

Yes he has made a high awareness for reptile conservation. Yes the Irwins do attempt to Help the wildlife community in a whole.

But come on He needs to stop freehandling hot snakes. At very least use the proper tools there are kids watching. No matter how good he is someday he will get bit or more to the point some kid will get bit trying to be like him. I personally removed a coral out of two kids hands that said they were playing Croc Hunter. Yes the parents deffinately need to pay more attention to the kids, I know these kids parents will be thanks to a local PD officer who was there as well and had some choice comments to the parents. But we dont need someone showing them how to freegrab a hot snake on tv.

All the good you may do for conservation is not wourth the life of one person that attempts to be like you and dies.

[cobraman]

Ok, I will be cautious in my posting here, as many of you already know of my reputation and my handling practices (shut up, Scott). However, What I do, I would not do on tv for millions to admire and aspire to duplicate. On the other hand, I recognize it for what it is (strictly entertainment) and I insist that there are far more damageing things on tv, that well meaning people who will damn the actions of a Steve Erwin, Bill Haast, or even myself, will buy on vhs or dvd for their children. So the bottom line (in my own opinion) is that Steve does some things that I would not be willing to do on a regular basis (but then I don't make 2 million dollors a year to do these things). But in defence of Steve, he does use some tricks of the trade that increases his safety (such as cooling and druging).
Ok, so there is my 2 cents. Change please!
Blessings all,
Ray Hunter

[hip]

Ray is right i have heard too that irwin cools hots and that would explain an agressive hot becoming more calm and managable .Dont forget the magic of editing to go with the slight of hand . my 10 cents which here in canada after taxes is 2 cents



peace hip

[katev17]

Firstly, about Terri, I know she contributes more, she just annoys me so I was being stupid, don't worry..

Also, his documentaries were not actually recognized until only a few years ago (His first was actually in the early-mid 80's) so I harrrrdly doubt he makes 2 million dollars a year... with the exception of his movie I guess.

Anyway, I don't think anybody here has met him (yet heehee) so I really think we're not in any place to judge... any of our stories have been 2nd hand and we haven't been there when he's been filming a show. Until I've actually met him myself or met someone who hasn't just heard rumours/speculations and has actually experienced any of these things face to face with Steve, I'm going to keep my opinion on him that he's an enthusiastic, passionate herpetologist.

Kate

[cobraman]

Actually, Kate, I do know Steve (only from phone conversations. He called when I was working at Miami Serpentarium about filming a special on Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes), and his sallery is just above $2mill/year right now. He said that when Discovery was paying him, he was only making $200,000 a year,and now his sallery has multiplied by 10.