CAIRNS, Australia Dramatic videotape of "Crocodile
Hunter" Steve Irwin's last moments shows him pulling from his chest
the poisonous stingray barb that killed him, officials said
Tuesday, as tributes poured in for the beloved naturalist famed for
getting dangerously close to deadly beasts.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in the death of
Irwin, who was stabbed in the chest on Monday while snorkeling with
a stingray while filming a television program on Australia's Great
Barrier Reef, and no evidence he provoked the animal.
John Stainton, Irwin's manager who was among the television crew on
the reef, said the fatal blow that struck the presenter and
conservationist was caught on videotape, and described viewing the
footage as having the "terrible" experience of watching a friend
die.
"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came
up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and
the next minute he's gone," Stainton told reporters in Cairns,
where Irwin's body was taken for an autopsy.
The tape of the death of the man known by TV audiences worldwide
for his infectious enthusiasm in the series "The Crocodile Hunter"
was secured by Queensland state police as evidence for a coroner's
inquiry a standard procedure in high-profile deaths or those
caused by other than natural causes.
Irwin, 44, was shooting footage for a project he was making with
daughter Bindi, 8, for airing next year in the United States when
he was fatally stung off the north Queensland coast.
On Tuesday, his body was being returned to the Sunshine Coast,
where his American wife Terri, Bindi and their son, Bob, almost 3,
were keeping a low profile at their home near Australia Zoo,
Irwin's wildlife park. No funeral plans were announced, though
Queensland Premier Pete Beattie said he would get a state funeral
if the family agreed to it.
Australia's Parliament interrupted its normal scheduled so leaders
could pay tribute to Irwin.
"He was a genuine, one-off, remarkable Australian individual and I
am distressed at his death," Prime Minister John Howard said.
"He was not only a great Aussie bloke, he was determined to instill
his passion for the environment and its inhabitants in everybody he
met," Opposition leader Kim Beazley said.
Australia Zoo was open Tuesday staff said it was what he would've
wanted but the mood was somber and most visitors were to a
makeshift shrine of bouquets and handwritten condolence messages
that emerged at the gate.
"Mate, you made the world a better place," read one poster left at
the gate. "Steve, our hero, our legend, our wildlife warrior," read
another. Khaki shirts a trademark of Irwin were laid out for
people to sign.
Stingray experts have speculated that the animal that killed Irwin
who rose to fame by getting dangerously close to crocodiles,
snakes and other beasts probably felt trapped between the
cameraman and the television star.
Queensland Police Superintendent Michael Keating said there was no
evidence Irwin threatened or intimidated the stingray, a normally
placid species that only deploys its poisonous tail spines as a
defense.
Stainton said Irwin was in his element in bushland, but the sea
posed threats the star wasn't used to.
"If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be the
ocean," Stainton said. "On land he was agile, quick-thinking,
quick-moving and the ocean puts another element there that you have
no control over."
Irwin was propelled to global fame after his TV shows were shown
around world on the Discovery Channel, which announced plans for a
marathon screening of Irwin's work and a wildlife fund in his
name.
Experts differed on the number of human deaths caused by stingrays
from up to 17 to just 3 though they agreed that they were
extremely rare.
Australian news Web sites reported being choked by heavy traffic
seeking new on Irwin, newspapers devoted their front and several
inside pages to the story and some of Irwin's high-profile friends
expressed their sadness.
"He was and remains the ultimate wildlife warrior," said
Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, who appeared with Irwin recently on
"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "He touched my heart, I believed
in him, I'll miss him. I loved him and I'll be there for his
family," Crowe said in New York, Australian media reported.
The U.S. Embassy in Canberra issued a statement saying its staff
mourned the death.
"As the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was in many ways an
unofficial Australian ambassador to the United States," it said.
"With his humor and irrepressible sense of adventure, he
represented those things our citizens find most appealing about
Australia and its wonderful way of life."
____
Associated Press Writer Dennis Passa contributed to this report
from Beerwah, Australia.
he died at such a young age lol...
