THE CHIEL

A madcap adventurer

THE death yesterday of Australian Steve Irwin, known as the Crocodile Hunter, was tragic but not surprising. If ever a man tempted fate, Steve was that person.

Viewers of television environmental and animal adventure programmes on the Discovery channel will remember this hyperactive man for what, to me, was his over- the-top action and hamming it up with animals.

He was killed while filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef when a stingray’s barb pierced his chest. Having watched several of his previous escapades and thinking he was taking inordinate risks, the news did not surprise me one bit. He knew what he was doing (most of the time) and it made riveting television, wrestling with giant crocodiles and going face to face with some of the world’s deadliest animals, including snakes, spiders and more. As far as I was concerned, it was tempting fate in the deadliest fashion.

I spoke to Buffalo City amenities manager Willie Maritz, a marine biologist among other things, and asked if it was likely to be the same species that is found in these parts and how toxic stingray poison is.

He said he had never heard of anyone dying from a sting. The poison is a coat of slime on the ray’s barb, similar to that on barbels, and is painful but, usually, long-term discomfort only occurs if the wound goes septic.

To be spiked on the chest, one can only speculate at this stage that Irwin was wrestling with the fish or passed so close over it that it flipped its tail while extending the sharp spike – a defensive reaction – and it penetrated his chest. And perhaps that affected his heart or breathing.

Amazingly, when I spoke to Willie, he and East London Zoo curator, Nico Roux, were on their way with others to Australia to investigate a master plan for the zoo. They had an appointment to interview Irwin at his Australia Zoo in Queensland and are also visiting Singapore and Brisbane.

My most lasting memory of Irwin will be an adventure into Antarctica. He was flown in from South America and landed on a freezing and ice-bound runway at some bleak research station. Mad as ever and a supreme showman to the last, he stepped from the aircraft in typical uniform – khaki shorts, khaki shirt, long socks and boots – and didn’t even shiver. However, in later clips from that particular documentary, he was very well insulated and covered head to toe. You can only resist so much that nature throws at you, then common sense prevails. An eccentric character, Irwin knew how to grab attention, but one risk too many was his undoing. It’s a shame really, but inevitable and sad, just the same.

Chiel: 043 702 2242 or chiel@dispatch.co.za

Tailpiece

I LOOKED at my wife the other day and said: “Honey, 25 years ago, we had a cheap flat, cheap car, slept on a sofa and watched a 10-inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 25-year-old blonde. Now, we have a nice house, nice car, big bed and plasma screen TV, but I’m sleeping with a 50-year-old. It seems to me you’re not keeping your side of things.”

My wife’s a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a hot 25-year-old blonde and she would make sure that once again I would be living in a cheap flat, driving a cheap car and sleeping on a sofa.

FROM OUR FILES

SEPTEMBER 5, 1956: The first Afrikaans-speaking mayor in the 108-year-history of East London was elected last night, when Mr Robert Lawrence de Lange, of West Bank, was formally installed as East London’s First Citizen. Another West Bank councillor, Mr Leopold Laden, was elected deputy mayor.

SEPTEMBER 5, 1976: Percy Owen on tour with the All Blacks. That’s more like it, South Africa. There was that determination, spirit and do-or-die approach among the Springboks that wins rugby Test matches. And how they deserved their 15-10 win over New Zealand after being down 6-7 at half-time in the third Test at Newlands yesterday. But let’s not get carried away into thinking the Springboks were all that much better than the All Blacks. The truth is they were not. They lost the lineouts 11-24, lost the rucks at 11-18 and Gerald Bosch missed six out of eight penalty attempts.

“When the world says, ‘Give up’, hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time’” – Author unknown

TIMELINE

Today is Tuesday, September 5, the 248th day of 2006. There are 117 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: Louis XIV, the “Sun King” of France (1638-1715); Caspar David Friedrich, German painter (1774-1840); Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer (1791-1864); Paul Bourget, French author (1852-1935); Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-born British writer (1905-1983); John Cage, US composer (1912-1992); Raquel Welch, actress (1940-); Werner Herzog, German director (1942-).

This day in history:

1868 — Death of Moselekatse, first king of the Matabele.

1939 — General Jan Smuts becomes prime minister of South Africa.

1988 — Wits University lecturer Raymond Suttner is released after more than two years of detention. He is immediately placed under restrictions amounting to house arrest.

1989 — Thousands of black South Africans begin a two-day strike on the eve of segregated elections in the country

Sunrise: 06:21 Sunset: 17:53

(Source: www.saweather.co.za)