[dd74]

Only time will tell whether he did good. Awareness of animals? Yes, he made his viewers aware of them and what dangers they possess. But the question I have is "why?" and for "who?"

On Animal Planet, there are a couple shows which mimmick Irwin's actions with animals. In one, a person (Australian, ironically), intentionally stun himself with several insects to see which insect gives the worst sting. He finally did have to enter the hospital as one sting he received nearly made his arm gangrenous. All of this happened in the wild.

Absolutely, for prospective veterinarians and zoologists, this is good information. But if these shows can practically play to such small minorities, in overal viewership, I still can't get around what Irwin was doing didn't funnel down to simple sensationalism.