Steve Irvin…we miss ya mate!

Steve Irvin…we miss ya mate

He may seem crazy to many … must confess, even to me first when I saw him in Discovery. But it didn’t take much time for him to win my heart… so was with millions around the world. My jaw just drooped when I saw him fighting with a 6 feet crocodile and much to my ease nothing happened and Steve with his famous Aussie accent ended it up with a “Crikey!!”. This over hyper-enthusiastic adventurous guy was slowly taking my heart away.

I could not stop getting emotional when I saw his memorial function at Animal planet as many of his colleagues were on tears. Danger was lurking all the way through his career and he boasted of hand-feeding the world's most venomous snakes without being bitten. However, a 13-year-old female saltwater crocodile once took a large bite from his leg, a snack Mr. Irwin defended from the animal's perspective: ``The poor little female was just defending herself."

When not filming his specials, Mr. Irwin and his wife, Terri, developed the Australia Zoo, a popular wildlife park started by his parents. He used part of his fortune to buy land for animal conservation, which he saw as imperative because of his country's massive land-clearing operations. He also helped lead efforts to save such endangered species as the woma, a type of python, and the northern hairy-nosed wombat.

``Our whole passion to be on this planet is to educate people about wildlife," he said in 1998. ``I will die doing that. I have a gift." – and so did he.

He was following a fleet of stingrays when one turned on him and fatally struck, an extraordinarily rare action. Footage of the incident, which police seized, shows the animal turning and hitting Mr. Irwin, who collapses in the water, according to The Australian newspaper.

Mr. Irwin was taken by his boat, Croc One, to a rescue helicopter that flew to a nearby island. Despite attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead before reaching a hospital.

He was a true lover of nature and knew how precious this little earth is. He was committed to his profession of spreading the news of wildlife conservation. He was blessed with an awesome family where his parents also had a interest in the same area. We will all be missing you Steve... and thanks for teaching us all about animals… as we humans tend to forget we are also a species in this animal kingdom!