Steves Legacy » Australia Zoo

Steves Legacy
07-09-2006

After watching the endless news reports on Steves death I have to the conclusion that he has left three main legacies, (aside form his family).
The first one is conservation, including the zoo, peoples awareness of the importance of conservation, all the land he had bought, the wildlife rangers, the work the zoo does in caring for injured animals etc.
The second is as an entertainer - the shows an dmovie, peoples love of him because he was a larrikin (Greer aside) etc
The third is for tourism, the way he was the FACE OF Australia to so many people from the US, Europe and Asia, how people come to Australia just to see Steves zoo etc.
So I pondered which would be the most enduring - what do you think?
Will his show go the way of so many tv shows and documentaries and soon be forgotton by most people, or will they enjoy the endless rerun, like MASH.
As for tourism - how long will he be the forgotton face of Australia, just like Paul Hogan? Will his zoo become just another tourist attraction having to fight for the dollar?

Personally i think conservation will be the most enduring legacy. Everything seems to be set up to continue after his death. The zoo will continue, maybe with Bindi and Bob running it, All the protected land, the wildlife rangers etc will continue for many years hence.

Jay

07-09-2006

from a zoo perspective i sincerely hope that the zoo manages to re-brand itself and continue to grow despite loosing its start attraction. as we have spoken of so many times, australia zoo was not so much of a zoo (or a particuarly amazing one by international standards) as it was a theme park about steve irwin and the irwin family. unfortunately, i think in the short term that irwins elderly dad, terri and two small kids are going to manage to maintain the interest that steve did.

jersey zoo has struggled in recent years, no doubt the result of a slow downwards slide in intrest since gerald durrell (the famous naturalist founder and owner) died.

but gerald durrel didn't leave behind an 8 year old daughter with her own tv show, a healthy a bank account, or a entertainment savvy wife and manager.

good luck to them.

07-09-2006

I hate to put pressure on Bindi - but I think she has real star potential ... and with her mother's influence (more so than her father's now), hopefully she will take a more measured (and less flamboyant) approach to conservation ... and make some real contribution in that area with the resources she has available to her.

But heck, the girl is only 8 - that's a big responsibility, and not really fair to put that level of expectation on her already.

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Australia Zoo -- Steves Legacy
08-09-2006

I have met a few people that made their decision to visit ( or not visit ) Australia Zoo purely on the basis of whether Steve Irwin was actually going to be there on the day . I was quite annoyed about them , and suggested to them that they visit zoos for conservation/learning reasons , to see ANIMALS rather than a person . As much as Steve Irwin was a very endangered species , sooner or later he would no longer exist , and the zoo will outlive him .

Unfortunately it has happened more suddenly than expected .

I only hope that people will be smart enough to support the zoo for the WORK that Steve did , in his own style of conservation and education , rather than for the man himself . The next generation will not know him as a person , just like I will never possibly get to meet Abe Lincoln or Winston Churchill .

If Australia Zoo can organise to continue a programme that will endear people to the animals , and to conservation , it will be great . Auckland Zoo has done that with several TV series just called "The Zoo" It featured no particular person in any detail , but still endeared the people to the zoo , and the work that it tries to do . The TV show was very popular , and they are currently screening Mk 6 version !
But if people only went to Australia Zoo to see Steve Irwin play cat and mice games with the crocodiles , and to hear the famous Crikey !! , they are missing the whole point of what Steve was trying to achieve as a conservationist . I tried to point this out to Australia Zoo a few times before , but each time was told that Steves antics brings in the money for the Zoo to exist . Well now this wont happen .

I will be very disappointed if Australia Zoo does close at some point in the future , ( I can see its potential for living up to its name as being the Premier Zoo in Australia ) but I suspect that they will certainly have a big issue on their hands -- how to market the zoo now that Steve is no more .