Walking The Walk

In death, Steve Irwin proves that he was not just an entertainer, although he did that quite well. The Crocodile Hunter, who died Monday after being struck in the heart by a stingray's barbed tail, really walked the walk of the conservation he believed in.

He bought 90,000 acres of land to preserve habitat for endangered species.

Irwin, 44, who was killed on Monday by a stingray while filming an undersea documentary, had bought the land,about the size of the Isle of Wight, to preserve the habitat of koalas and porcupine-like echidnas threatened by land clearance.

He had repeatedly urged individuals as well as corporations to buy and preserve the habitats of threatened species. “You know, easily the greatest threat to the wildlife globally is the destruction and annihilation of habitat. So I’ve gone, ‘Right, well, how do I fix that?’ Well, making a quid here. People are keen to give me money over there. I’ll buy it. I’ll buy habitat,” he said in an interview. Most of the land is in Queensland.

After viewing footage of his final moments, Queensland police said yesterday that Irwin had not been intimidating the fish that killed him.

The naturalist died after being stabbed in the heart by the barbed tail of a bull stingray, thought to weigh about 220lb (100kg), during filming on the Great Barrier Reef. The footage shows Irwin swimming above the ray when it lashes out with its tail, a movement performed when stingrays feel threatened. Irwin then pulls the serrated barb from his chest.

He didn't demand others or the government do it for him. He did it himself. The world is bleaker with his loss.