4/6/2023 0 Comments Peta mocks steve![]() ![]() Its spokeswoman Lisa Wothne added her support in an interview with News Limited, encouraging a boycott of Australia Zoo whilst discouraging Irwin's children from imitating their late father. "He made a career out of antagonising frightened wild animals, which is a very dangerous message to kids," warned PETA activist Dan Matthews. The melody they dance to is ignored as macabre and insincere. Reactions like those of the American organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are dismissed with the headlines: "US Activists dancing on Star's Grave" (14 September). A week after his death, Wayne Sumpton of the state fisheries department announced that ten stingrays had been found, their bodies mutilated. Sometimes it proves cruel, but the pound of flesh it extracts from humankind is repaid ten-fold. Nature, we assume, is there to be conquered. Australians like Irwin in spite of themselves, lamenting his fall the way the ill-planned expedition of Burke and Wills is lamented. It has been just two weeks since his death, and already the hagiographic glow that emanates from the sepulchre of Australia Zoo is overwhelming. Their existence in enclosures implies a loss of sanctuary, not an affirmation of conservation. Irwin, who always realised environmental projects as business ventures, never wavered in his central philosophy: reduce the beings of the animal kingdom to anthropomorphic caricatures: crocodiles and snakes can be handled, cuddled, kissed. Perhaps he was more complicated than his fans realise. Those in favour of Irwin's environmentalism cite his purchasing ventures: he bought tracts of land for "conservation". Preserve it, yes, but only do so at the cost of its solitude and tranquillity. Perhaps the lesson is this: the animal world is there for the picking, an entertainment bonanza. Mark Townsend of the Queensland branch for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals must be mistaken to assume that Steve was "a modern-day Noah" (6 September). In many ways, both sequences are tasteless: they denigrate their subject in the name of publicity. ![]() The images he produced are akin to those that shaped the West's consciousness of the developing world: the dying child, the famine-stricken family. If natural conservation is dependent on the televisual orgy, the gladiatorial contest (Will Steve be eaten? Will the reptile eat Steve's child?), we must be desperate indeed. The public could see the wonders of the "wild". Democratised (Irwin was "egalitarian", one of "us" and the great leveller), the zoo became a space of civic virtue. By the late 19th century zoos were no longer elitist. The agents of Imperialism, assisted by improved technologies, caged the animals of colonies first in private menageries, then public exhibition spaces called zoos. Whether it was the Chou Dynasty in the 12th century BCE or the biologically-crazed nobles of Europe during the Enlightenment, animals were exotica, symbols of power. When one sees the praise heaped on this man, it is fitting to bear in mind the historical raison d'etre of zoo keeping: displays of power through entertainment, imparting knowledge on people about their status in society. You must sing for your supper you must perform for the public. ![]() They demonstrate a cruel pecking order: you are on show, it tells animals, because you are in captivity, because you are not free, and your ancestors were exterminated. But can the owner or manager of a zoo ever claim such a title? Zoos: cordoned off spaces, celebrating the subjugation of nature. The story of his life, already being written, will conclude that he was a good conservationist, a global ambassador for protecting "dangerous" animals. The "crocodile hunter" (a title used by his fans without self-irony) was dead, killed by the jab of a docile stingray off Port Gladstone on 4 September while filming a documentary. The service will be screened before a worldwide TV audience. The occasion is Steve Irwin's memorial service to be held on Wednesday, 20 September at his Australia Zoo. Thousands have camped out for a few days for an allotment of 3000 free tickets. The Australian public is eagerly waiting. Germaine Greer, Guardian, 5 September, 2006 Parrots are a lot smarter than crocodiles. A parrot once did its best to rip his nose of his face. The only creatures couldn't dominate were parrots. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |