A nature conservationist and popular YouTuber commonly referred to as “South Africa’s Steve Irwin,” Graham “Dingo” Dinkelman, died at age 44 Saturday from a venomous snake bite.
Dinkelman, a husband and dad of three, perished about one month after he was put in a medically induced coma after going into anaphylactic shock from the bite, his wife announced on social media.
The reptile wrangler was bitten by an Eastern green mamba, the outlet reported.
In his YouTube videos, Dinkelman gets up close and personal with venomous snakes. He was also known to taunt snarling crocodiles and showed a soft spot while nursing his family’s pet giraffe.
As of Thursday, his YouTube channel boasted more than 111,000 subscribers and he had more than 646,000 Instagram followers.
In one of his first videos posted on YouTube, Dinkelman handles the extremely venomous black mamba.
In one post shortly before the fatal bite, Dinkelman shows his son, Rex, handling a green snake — grabbing it by the head with his bare hands.
Five days later a note from his wife Kirsty was posted on the Instagram page, alerting fans that her husband was bit by a snake and in ICU in a medically induced coma.
Following one month in the coma, Dinkelman passed away and his grieving wife took to Instagram to memorialize the daredevil.
“While Dingo was renowned for his involvement with snakes and other reptiles, his compassion extended to all creatures,” she wrote in the Instagram post.
“There was a special place in his heart for African mammals, his favourites being elephants, rhinos and lions, as well as our giraffe Elliot. But it was truly his love for his family that was always behind his purpose, drive, and passion,” the statement reads, accompanied by a photo of Dinkelman feeding Elliot out of his hands.
Dinkelman was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and was the owner and operator of Dingo’s Farm and Reptile Park.
The homepage of Dinkelman’s website shows the wild man eerily posing with a green snake that appears to be a green mamba.
Dinkelman leaves behind his wife Kirsty and their children Taylor, 14; Maddy, 12; and Rex, 9.
