Animal acts


Animal acts, by Stephanie Peatling - 19th June 2004
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)


Adventure man Steve Irwin may have ridden roughshod over Antarctica, but this time some conservationists are on his side, writes Stephanie Peatling.

Steve Irwin, the self-proclaimed "greatest wildlife warrior that's walking on Earth", is a man who likes his nature up close and personal. Irwin's unashamedly ocker style, aimed squarely at the American market, has made the man in the khaki short shorts an international superstar. Irwin has said he makes people aware of the importance of conservation by "getting out into the world, taking you, the audience, with me, having an adventure and making it exciting".

But the search for the excitement factor has landed Irwin in trouble again, less than six months after he was condemned for taking his baby son into a crocodile enclosure at his Australia Zoo in Queensland. In the footage of his latest documentary, Ice Breaker, Irwin is shown sliding down icy slopes in Antarctica with penguins and wriggling in among a group of leopard seals. He is also alleged to have swum with humpback whales.

After a tip-off to the Antarctica Division of the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage, Irwin and his team are being investigated for possible breaches of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and the Antarctic Treaty Environment Protection Act.

The television channel that screened Ice Breaker in the United States this week defended Irwin's actions. "We at Animal Planet are confident that once the Australian Antarctic Division [AAD] reviews the footage of Steve with whales, they will find there was no intentional wrongdoing," a statement from producers said.

Irwin described it as a "storm in a teacup" and a "huge vendetta" by anti-environmentalists. He also pointed out what he saw as the hypocrisy of people claiming to be outraged by his actions: "It's a massive agenda not by one or two people but by countless millions of people who support the wearing [of leather] and the sustainable use of wildlife [for leather and meat] and killing whales."

It is an opinion not without support in conservation circles. A Humane Society International campaigner, Nicola Benyon, was more concerned with the ongoing straying of Japanese whaling vessels into Australia's Antarctic waters than Irwin's latest caper. She says terrible crimes against wildlife are committed in Australia's Antarctic waters but there have been no prosecutions for them.

"The same Australian law that is being looked at to investigate Steve Irwin could be used to prosecute Japanese whalers, who routinely kill whales in Australia's whale sanctuary as part of their phoney scientific research program. Once a law has been passed to protect wildlife in Australia's jurisdiction, it ought to be applied with equal force to everyone."

One scientist with extensive field experience in Antarctica, who asked not to be named, said Irwin's claim that the penguins and whales came to him was plausible. "He doesn't do himself any favours, does he? If you sit still for long enough they will come to you," the scientist says. "Penguins in particular are very naive. Because there are no land-based predators in Antarctica, such as polar bears, the animals are very curious."

In the case of the leopard seals, the scientist was more concerned for Irwin's safety: "Only last year a leopard seal killed a woman with the British Antarctic Survey who got too close." The scientist points out that the hugely respected naturalist Sir David Attenborough has got just as close, if not closer, to a wide range of Antarctic wildlife including albatross and emperor penguins. "Attenborough gets very close, but his attitude is respectful and submissive. For a piece on emperor penguins, his team was in Antarctica for the whole winter with a research team so when they do get close they are not seen as infringing. But Steve Irwin seems to be in there being incredibly exuberant, gung-ho and perhaps not understanding the subleties."

Another researcher who has worked with Attenborough says the difference between the two filmmakers is their approach: "Everyone wants Attenborough-standard footage but most people have limited time to get the shots they need."

The famous footage of a killer whale approaching a beach and grabbing a seal pup was obtained because a crew was in place for months, waiting for just such a spectacle.

"You cannot get that kind of stuff in a day or a week and there are only a very few organisations - the BBC, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel - that have the resources to put in the time to get what they do," the researcher says.

To gain permission to film in Antarctica, Irwin had to submit an environmental impact assessment outlining what he and his crew were going to do. They were also made aware of the code of conduct which asks visitors to consider that: "The Antarctic environment is highly susceptible to the impacts of human activities, and as a general rule has much less natural ability to recover from disturbance than the Australian environment."

The code is very specific in setting the minimum distances people must keep between themselves and any wildlife. People travelling on foot must stay at least 15 metres away from penguins in colonies and seals with pups. That distance is reduced to five metres for penguins on sea ice and for adult seals.

Irwin has been ordered to submit all footage shot in Antarctica to see whether man or beast made the first move. If found guilty, Irwin faces a fine of up to $1 million and two years' jail. A decision is expected later this month.

Links:

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The Sydney Morning Herald

Animal Planet

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BBC - Science & Nature - David Attenborough

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