BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian
television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile
Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving
expedition. He was 44.
Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier
Reef in northeastern Queensland state when he was stung, Sydney's
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.
He collapsed at Batt Reef, near Low Isle and the resort town of
Port Douglas, Queensland state police said in a statement. Port
Douglas is about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane, the state
capital.
A rescue helicopter rushed to the scene but Irwin had died, the
statement said.
Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a
diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef and said
cause of death appeared to be a "stingray strike to the
chest."
Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword
"Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was
first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world
on the Discovery channel.
He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia
Zoo as a tourist attraction.
Irwin had received some negative publicity in recent years. In
January 2004, he stunned onlookers at the Australia Zoo reptile
park by carrying his month-old son into a crocodile pen during a
wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the
13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.
Authorities declined to charge Irwin for violating safety
regulations.
Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a
seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary.
Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment
Department investigation recommended no action be taken.
Irwin was also seen as a vocal critic of wildlife hunts in
Australia. The federal government recently dropped plans to allow
crocodile safaris for wealthy tourists in the Northern Territory
following his vehement objections.
Irwin told the Australian television program "A Current Affair"
that "killing one of our beautiful animals in the name of trophy
hunting will have a very negative impact on tourism, which scares
the living daylights out of me."
He is survived by his American wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., and
their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in
December.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his
family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year,
hailed Irwin for his work in promoting Australia through projects
such as "G'Day LA," an Australian tourism and trade promotion week
in Los Angeles in January.
"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very
appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia
overseas," Downer's spokesman Tony Parkinson said.
Stingrays have flat bodies and tails with serrated spines, which
contain venom and can cause cuts and puncture wounds. The creatures
are not aggressive and injury usually occurs when a swimmer or
diver accidentally steps on one.
*
This is so saddening...used to be a huge fan of his series... can't
believe this actually happened... his daughter is still so young
