Let's start with Steve Irwin, the spastic, drastic, ultra-enthusiastic Australian zookeeper-turned television star of the late 90s-mid 2000s. Known as the "Crocodile Hunter", he was famous for his exuberance over crocodiles and other reptiles, his repeated jumping atop crocodiles, his tailing of venomous snakes, and his catchphrase, "Crikey!". The guy was unstoppable. He loved being in front of the camera and having his film crew follow him into treacherous situations involving dangerous animals. His wife Terri, an American naturalist who was the yin to his yang, often accompanied him on his adventures. She was calm and deliberate while Steve was high-strung and impulsive. It all made for incredibly entertaining television.
There was no Steve Irwin prior to Steve Irwin. Nature- or animal-based television shows were of a more organized, ecocentric viewpoint. Wild America, hosted by Marty Stouffer, was a staple on PBS. NOVA and Nature were other popular science-based program on PBS. In 1996, Steve Irwin smashed through the walls of your living room like the Kool-Aid man. With knees bent and fists closed tightly, he shouted, "Wooo-hoo!". Sporting khaki shorts and a matching shirt, he was constantly poised to tackle any crocodile that he came across. Steve changed animal programming forever, and to this day our expectation of what a worthy animal-themed television program should be remains the same. Before you knew it, he had competition. Austin Stevens, Jeff Corwin, Nigel Marven, Brady Barr, and even the highly respected academic herpetologist Mark O'Shea burst upon the scene to capitalize on this new kind of show - a show with a rock star host who interacted directly with the animals in risky situations.
As a result of these high-octane programs, the relatively tame programs featuring mostly animals in their natural habitat went extinct. They were seen as boring to the younger generation. Marty Stouffer disappeared into obscurity and only reruns of some of the other shows are broadcast late at night when everyone is sleeping. Though a recent surge in popularity of pure nature programming has wiggled its way to the masses in the form of Planet Earth and other similar cinematic-style documentaries, these are not the programs you often see cited as being inspiring to young, prospective biologists.
As far as Steve Irwin and The Crocodile Hunter, well, they didn't have a big impact on my life. By the time Steve Irwin became famous and was given his own show, I was in high school and beyond the imprinting stage. I watched some of the episodes. I liked some of it, but a lot of it seemed like thinly-veiled conservation. To me, the show was clearly egocentric and not ecocentric. The show WAS Steve Irwin. The animals were props. Watching the show, a young kid would not learn a whole lot about the natural history of species as much as, say, the tremendous bite force of a saltwater crocodile. Clearly, the show was developed and marketed as "extreme entertainment". Not necessarily a bad thing, but, it did largely displace pure nature programming, which in my opinion, was a problem.
Today, I hear a lot of people name Steve Irwin as their inspiration for why they developed an interest in herpetology. Steve's untimely and tragic death in 2006 did nothing to temper his fan's enthusiasm. You can still find many tributes to Steve Irwin on social media, particularly around the anniversary of his passing. But I wonder how many of his fans possess a passion for herps that extends beyond recreational field herping, herp photography, and herpetoculure? Has the show nurtured a true passion for conservation, for environmentalism, and for meaningful action? Or does it really matter, since its purpose was entertainment?
At his core, Steve Irwin was passionate about wildlife and outreach. He was by all accounts a very warm, compassionate, and caring person. I could see that after watching one episode. I think the show reflected his true spirit, but I've got a hunch that had he been given more creative control, the focus would have been less on brute force and more on the animals themselves, in a less perturbed state. Would that have sold well with young millennials? Eh, probably not.
10/07/20 UPDATE: Well, it seems as per usual, I was wrong in assuming that Steve Irwin didn't really inspire young people to become herpetologists. Since I wrote this entry, I've met a number of field biologists and herpetologists who cite Irwin as a major inspiration. I've also heard the same in some recent podcasts. So, in short, my opinion is still unpopular, AND I'm pretentious. Just wanted to make mention of that :)
