RIP Steve Irwin

I know a lot of bloggers have already said their piece on this, but I was very sad to hear the news of his death while filming stingrays. He was a great character and a committed conservationist. I love wildlife documentaries; OK, so his approach wasn't exactly David Attenborough, and I prefer a more Attenborough-esque, academic approach ("and if we look carefully at the leg markings on the lesser-spotted Suffolk wood ant, we can see what Darwin meant by...") but then I have a natural interest in the natural world, and I am quite happy poring over a detailed discussion of ecology in my RSPB magazine.

For kids, or people who might not naturally settle down to watch wildlife documentaries, his whole approach of "Wahey, look at the size of that f*cking huge, dangerous snake/croc/shark/spider, why don't I go up really close and see what happens if I poke it?" must have got a lot of people enthusiastic about the subject. They started watching to see what the crazy Australian guy would get up to next, and came away learning things. And besides, his programmes were brilliant fun.

We'll miss Steve.